Elemental Education
by hColleen
Summary: Youko Kurama is given a choice. Teach a ningen how to control her powers or loose his own suggestions for better summary accepted...I'm bad at these Completed with epilogue
1. Default Chapter

Bekka was having a bad day. That in itself was nothing new. What made today especially bad was that she was now suspended by vines looking at her very amused tormentor and a very irritated man, though he had features that just didn't quite add up to "man." Loki was laughing, which did nothing to help her mood and less for that of the man. The man had what looked to be a tail, switching from side to side violently, and ears that stood up from his head like those of a cat or fox. She wasn't sure since they'd been plastered back against his silvery hair most of the time she'd been there.

Loki had delivered her in what she was beginning to think of as the "usual" way, dropping her from some height so she landed face first on whatever hard surface was below her. Only, this time, the vines had wrapped around her body before she'd fallen very far. She let out a squeak of surprise, attracting the attention of the not-quite-man.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he demanded, his golden eyes flashing.

Bekka tried to get her mind to focus on the questions and their answers when she heard Loki's all too familiar laughter. She moved her head to glare in the direction of the sound as the man before her turned around, a whip appearing in his hand from nowhere. She felt the vines tighten around her body so that she couldn't have moved even if she tried. Loki was standing in the entrance to the cave they were in. Bekka managed to wonder briefly why vines were growing in a cave before Loki spoke, driving everything else out of her head.

"Well, little Absinthe, aren't you going to answer the kitsune's questions?"

The strange word barely registered in her mind as she yelled back, "My name is Bekka, you good for nothing piece of…"

"Tut, tut, such language," Loki cut her off. "You know very well that your mother named you Absinthe, little girl. Behave and admit your name to your host."

With a vicious glare at Loki, Bekka faced the…kitsune….was that the word Loki used? "My mother named me Absinthe. I go by Bekka. As to why I'm here….ask that over there," she pointed with her chin at Loki.

Loki laughed and sighed, "Such gratitude, little girl. You know why you're here. This is where the next game is to take place."

Bekka only glared at the god as the enraged man asked, "What do you mean, her host? What game? I did not wish to have either of you here. Both of you, leave now."

"I'm sorry, Kurama, that just won't be possible." The man looked taken aback that Loki knew his name. Bekka felt sympathy for him, knowing that uncomfortable feeling. "You see, she is a pawn in a much larger game. The rules are set, as are the moves. She must be here, with you, and you must help her."

"I don't have to do anything," the man, Kurama replied. Bekka felt the vines around her loosen and she fell to the ground with a thud.

"Thanks a lot. This wasn't my idea, you know," she complained as she got to her feet.

"I don't care whose idea it was, leave."

"Don't you think I'd love to?"

"What's stopping you?"

"I am," Loki answered. Bekka glared at him, her fists clenched at her sides. Loki looked at her, continuously amused by the girl, "Didn't living with those monks teach you anything, or are you just too red-headed to figure anything else out?"

"You…" she growled.

"But, then, what do I expect from a gutter snipe?"

"You..." she growled louder.

"Maybe I should just stick you in a temple again?"

She launched herself at him, ready to tear his face off, forgetting that he was a god. She hit the archway head first with a sickening thud. Her vision blurred and darkened momentarily, anger restoring it when she heard Loki laughing behind her.

Still laughing, Loki turned to Kurama, who was mildly confused and very irritated by the display before him. "Here is your choice, Kurama. You teach her control over her powers or you loose yours. Which is it?"

"You bastard!" Bekka yelled, "How dare you threaten someone else! Isn't playing with my life enough for you? And what the hell do you mean powers?" As she yelled, venting her anger, flames began to appear around her. Surprised, she stopped suddenly, damping down on the anger she felt. The flames that had no fuel vanished quickly, but those that managed to find fuel continued to burn. Bekka's face blanched, turning very white against the red of her hair, her grey eyes growing very wide, "Oh, holy hell, now what game are you playing at?"

Ignoring the question, Loki turned his attention back to the kitsune, "Well?"

The kitsune felt trapped. No, he thought to himself, I am trapped. I can no more give up my powers than live without air. "Since she doesn't know, what are her powers? Other than creating fire, that is?"

"She is an elemental witch. She can control any of the elements, but some will be harder for her to learn than others. Fire just happens to be the easiest because it suits her temperament and hair color so well."

"An elemental witch?" Kurama had never heard that term before.

"Oh, did I forget to mention, she's human?"

"A human? Here? In the Makai? Are you utterly cruel?" Kurama asked, aghast.

Loki shrugged, "I've been called worse. You have as much time as you need to teach her. She will be tested when it is determined you are finished." With that, Loki vanished.

Kurama eyed the girl cautiously. "Why did you try to attack him?" He figured he'd start with what triggered her rage, trying to understand this human before him. Inwardly, he shook his head.

"Because of what he called me," she answered.

"What did he call you? Red headed, which you are, gutter snipe, which I've never heard before. What of it?"

"He also mentioned putting me in a temple." She sighed, there was no way of getting around it. "In a lot of cultures, red heads are considered to be fiery and passionate….and prostitutes," she said the last in a very disgusted tone of voice. "He was calling me a prostitute, a cheap, common, easy, slutty whore." The disgust was extremely evident in her posture and tone. He didn't understand that, though. "What did you mean by Makai? And what did he mean by kitsune? I've never heard either term before."

"The Makai is one of the three worlds," he answered. "Humans are typically in the Ningenkai, spirits live in the Reikai, and demons live in the Makai."

"Demons?" she broke in, a puzzled expression on her face. "Demons are supposed to be like some kind of mythology or something….aren't they?" her voice was very uncertain.

"Mythology? I'd like to think I was real." He almost laughed at her startled expression. "A kitsune is a type of demon."

Bekka scratched her head, "Gods and angels," she muttered, "I had to go and be stupid, didn't I?"

"What does that mean?"

Bekka sighed, "It's a long story, but the short version is I made a wish to travel and it was answered by Loki. I shouldn't have made that wish…I shouldn't have trusted some stranger who came up to me and asked if I wanted to travel. I should have been a lot more suspicious, less stupid, not made that wish." She sighed again. "Well, should have, but didn't, so now I'm here." Suddenly, Bekka felt as if the floor had vanished out from underneath her. She felt sick to her stomach. She groaned, "I almost forgot about this part of the whole situation. I'm going to a bit sick for the next couple of days. Part of the joys of how Loki transports me around. He says there's nothing he can do about it. I doubt it. He likes to watch me suffer. Is there somewhere I could lie down before I fall down?"

Kurama was beginning to wonder if this human would ever make sense or be able to endure training if just arriving made her sick. "Hey, this passes," she protested.

"What?" he looked at her, confused by her sudden outburst.

"You wanted to know how I was going to endure…." Her voice trailed off. "You didn't say that out loud, did you?" Her eyes grew wide again as he shook his head. "Oh, hell, just what I need."

"What do you mean?"

"He made me an empath, too." She rubbed her head, "I can now hear strong thoughts. I only catch a few of yours."

"You're familiar with empathy but not with demons?"

"Empathy is accepted as a possibility where I'm from. Demons are regarded as myths only. Usually, they're depicted as evil and conniving and out to destroy humans."

"You come from a strange place."

"Pretty much, yeah. Please, really, I need to lie down."

"Follow me, then," he turned on his heel and began to walk off.

Bekka pushed herself off the wall only to continue moving forward without her feet. She landed face first behind the kitsune, unconscious. Turning, Kurama began to toe at the girl, disgusted at the lack of response. Sighing, he picked her up and took her to his room. He dumped her unceremoniously in the center of his bed, sitting at the foot to watch her. She lay where he dropped her, unmoving.

How was he going to teach some ningen? She wouldn't be able to leave his caves and he would be stuck having to watch her to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. Her strange lack of information intrigued him, as did her knowledge of certain things. Being kitsune meant he was curious, almost insatiably so.

"Good, she's asleep." Kurama turned to face Loki, who'd reappeared just behind him.

"What do you want now? More threats?" Kurama did not like this person who could appear without triggering his defenses.

"No, information. I don't ask that you care for her for free, you know. I'm not as bad as she thinks I am." Kurama snorted at this, but Loki ignored him and continued on. "That she gets sick and manages to recover from how I have to transport her is actually quite remarkable. Most humans would die. She's a lot stronger than she looks, a lot stronger than most humans. She can offer a lot of information and she's a good story teller. As for the test, that won't be for a while yet. Train her the same way you learned. She will be able to control all the elements."

"What do you mean, all the elements? And why?" Kurama wasn't sure he trusted this person before him, but really had no reason not to or to take action, yet.

"Fire, water, earth, air and void. She can explain them when she wakes up. As for why? She'll need those abilities later in the game."

"Game?"

"She agreed to join the game when it first started. Her version, while lacking in detail is accurate. Once she agreed, there was no turning back. Oberon controls the game, I'm just the messenger and she is quite entertaining. That temper of hers is funny. It's fun to bait her. You'd think after nearly 70 years of having the name Absinthe, she'd get used to it. Oh, speaking of time, she is physically 20 and will age in the normal human manner while she is here."

"You still haven't told me what this 'game' is."

"It's complicated. We play it to pass the time. Being immortal gives us a lot of time to pass. She is now part of that game in a way very few ever are because of certain traits she has that other humans just don't have in sufficient quantities. Get to know her and you'll understand. And be kind, her last test was a very difficult one and just ended. She passed, but lost a lot in passing." Loki gave the sleeping girl what could almost be called an affectionate look and vanished.

Kurama shook his head, more confused than before Loki visited.

"Ah, before I forget," Loki's voice came from nowhere. "Here is her stuff, she'll want it." Suddenly, a large sack and a smallish case landed on the bed next to Kurama. He opened the small case and did not recognize the item contained within. It was nestled in red velvet and had a reddish tone to the wood. Intricate carvings graced the upside of the piece and it was shaped in an elaborate hour glass shape. From one side, a darker wood shaft continued past the edge of the red wood to end in an elegant scroll about his hand span beyond the body of the item. Drawn across the red and dark wood were five metallic cords. He frowned at the item, closing the case again. Going through the bag, he found mostly clothing with a few items he could not identify. He shook his head again. This girl was going to have to explain a lot when she woke up. How long would that be? He decided he would wait until she woke and watch her as she slept.

The first thing Bekka became aware of was weight near her feet. The next thing was the softness of the bedding. Where was she? Oh, yeah, with the demon. But, I fell on the floor. I guess he moved me. I hope he's not angry. She became aware of a murmur in her mind that didn't fit with her own thoughts. She focused on it and forced it to become louder and clearer. It sounded like the demon's voice. He was wondering when she would wake up. Three days, he thought, and she keeps sleeping. Three days, she thought, is that all? She opened her eyes and looked toward her feet. "Three days is actually rather short. Last time, it was a whole week."

Kurama looked at her, saved from being completely surprised by her movement. "How do you know it's been three days?"

"You were thinking that. Just now, you were wondering when I would wake up and grumbling about it being three days." She pushed herself into a sitting position, breathing deeply as vertigo struck with the sudden movement. "I'm sorry, I heard you before I completely woke up." She looked around, "This is your bed, isn't it? I'm sorry." Her eyes fell on the items next to him. "When did my violin get here?" she asked.

"Violin?" Kurama had never heard the word before.

"Yes, violin. In the case, there," she pointed to the small case. He handed her the case and watched as she opened it, running her fingers gently on the red wood. She then rubbed the fingers of her left hand with her thumb. "Well, I still have string calluses. Want to hear something?" she looked at him expectantly. Taking his shrug as assent, she picked up the instrument and placed it under her chin, also picking up a long bent stick with some type of string connecting the two ends. "This is a bow," she said, noting his curiosity. Tipping her chin against the violin, she drew the bow across the strings, checking their tuning before she began to play a simple lullaby on the instrument. Kurama found the lilting tone pleasant and watched intently as her fingers danced on the strings. Finishing the song, she looked at him again, "You like it?"

"Yes, can you make more?"

"Yes, I can play more, but I'd like to eat first, please. By the bye, what type of demon is a kitsune?" she asked as she replaced the violin in its case.

"A fox spirit." Kurama answered as he rose from the bed.

"Oh, okay…thanks," she muttered as she moved to rise. Reaching the fully upright position, her head again spun and she deepened her breathing to compensate. "Sorry," she said lightly, "I've been in bed a bit long to keep my head happy. All better, now, though," she smiled brightly at him.

"Are all ningen this much trouble?" Kurama muttered under his breath.

"Am I really a great lot of trouble?" Bekka asked, concerned that she'd done more to offend her unwilling host than be an unwilling guest.

"You yell in your sleep. Do you do that all the time?"

"No, not all the time. Only once in a while."

"What was your last test?"

"Oh," she sounded hesitant and he looked back. Her expression was closed, her eyes down cast, "Mostly just a maze. At the end, I had to make a choice." She bit her lip, looking up at him, "Because of that choice, I lost everything I had."

"What choice…" Kurama began.

"Can we please discuss this later?" Bekka cut him off. "It's only been a week. I haven't had time to cope with everything yet. I'm sorry." She dropped her eyes to the floor. She sighed, "I was in a monastery the last place I was. It wasn't a normal monastery. The monks trained to be the emperor's guards, elite fighters. I wasn't welcome at first. The high priest told me that women weren't encouraged to join the order. I challenged him to let me join, saying that I would surpass the group that I joined with." She blushed a bit, "I was a little arrogant. The group I joined with was a bunch of five and six year old boys, but I had to work hard to keep up with them. After six years, I attained my mastery, a full year before the rest of the group. I wasn't satisfied with that, though. I wanted to become one of the elite and to do that, I'd have to be taken on as the high priest's student. The challenge was a little more direct. I had to fight his first student, the one who'd been with him the longest. I didn't have to win or anything, I just had to keep getting up until the master called for us to stop. Shortly after we'd started, the master was called away on something important. He returned the next day, quite surprised to see us still going at it. He said that he would have allowed me a chance to retest had we not been still fighting because he was gone longer than he thought he'd be." She shrugged, "Didn't really matter, I passed and he took me as a student. I studied there for another eight years. His student eventually became my sensei and the high priest. He took me as his wife. Before I was brought here," her voice caught, "I was six months pregnant. Loki came and took my husband away, telling me I had to find him and rescue him. It was a game we'd played before, but the stakes were different this time." She took a deep breath, "I made it through the maze and rescued my husband, but then Loki told me I had to make a choice. Since I was out of my own time, the fabric of fate would not allow both my child and my husband to live. I had to decide which one would live. I choice my husband because I reasoned he could have children with other women. I lost my child and my husband rejected me, saying I did not love him. I was cast out of my home for my choice, but I honestly thought I did the right thing." She sighed, a shaky noise.

Kurama looked at her appraisingly. Her story was simple and he sensed missing a lot of details, but it did make sense with what Loki had said, about her loosing a lot. The loss of a mate was a serious matter, the loss of an unborn child as well. "Why did you tell me this?"

She took a deep breath, "It's only fair you know. I'm not exactly myself right now, and Loki doesn't exactly bring out the best in me."

They had reached the dining room area by the time she'd finished her story. It wasn't that there was a lot of distance to cover just that, during the course of the story, Bekka had not moved very far. Looking around, Bekka was amazed at the décor. There were tapestries depicting battles and love scenes on the walls. The furnishings were of fine woods and metals that glowed softly in the light. The light itself seemed to come from plants scattered around the room. "This is beautiful," she breathed, eyes wide and trying to drink in the entire room.

Her frank admiration of the room did much to endear her to the kitsune. He had selected each item with care from his pilferings. Each item had a story attached to it, some of danger, some of sex and double dealings, all pleasurable for the kitsune to remember. He preened a bit as he moved to stand next to her. She looked up at him, for the first time noticing that he was nearly two feet taller than she was. He was rather attractive, as well, even with his oddities, like the ears and tail. She shook herself internally. She really didn't need to be thinking that way right now. She sighed, smiling again at him, "So, what's to eat?"

"What do you like to eat?" Kurama asked, unsure entirely what humans ate.

"Just about anything." Picking up on his thought, "I think that if you can eat it, I'll try it. Worst case, I'll get sick."

Kurama decided to keep it simple and walked into the kitchen to make a salad. Bekka wandered around the room, hands clasped behind her back, looking at the objects scattered tastefully around the room. Kurama watched her for a few minutes before starting the food. He found it amusing how she kept her hands behind her back and would tip her head around to get a better view of various items. Bringing the bowls of salads into the room, he watched her again as she continued to look around the room. She was staring up at one of the tapestries depicting various demons in different stages of violence and sex. "Absi…" he began.

"Please call me Bekka," she cut him off, "I really do respond better to it. I've been called Bekka since I was three. I choose it for myself." She turned around to face him and smiled, "Thank you."

"Absinthe is a plant name of the Ningenkai, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. It's a poisonous bitter tree that's also called wormwood. I choose Bekka when a babysitter read me a story about someone named Rebecca. I couldn't say it right because I was only three but I really liked it. I started calling myself Bekka. One day, my mother was yelling at me about something I'd done wrong and called me 'Absinthe' and I told her my name was Bekka. I got into a lot of trouble for that, but she started calling me Bekka and everyone else did, too. Most people I knew didn't even know my name is Absinthe."

"What did your mother call you normally?" Kurama asked, a little amused at this story.

"She called me 'girl' or maybe 'Abby,' but I didn't like 'Abby.'" Bekka shrugged and approached the table and sat down. The salads had a variety of greens and other colors mixed in covered in an orange dressing. Sniffing a bit, Bekka smelled the living smell of chlorophyll and the sharp tang that reminded her of ginger. "You have ginger here?" she asked.

Kurama looked a little surprised to have her identify one of the ingredients. He wasn't entirely sure how much the plants of the two realms had in common. "Yes. What else do you recognize?"

Smiling, Bekka took the utensil that looked a bit like a spork but with longer tines and shifted through the salad. "Hmmm…lettuce, bell pepper, onion, cabbage, spinach…that's it."

"There's also bok choy, water cress, bean sprouts, and edame."

"I've heard of all of those. I've just never had them before. I guess, if there's nothing strange in the soil, these should be safe for me to eat."

"How do you know about that?" Kurama was curious to find out what this girl did and did not know. Loki seemed to think highly of her intelligence.

"Well, my oma, my grandmother, used to grow a lot of her own vegetables. She had a huge herb garden too. She tried to teach me how to grow things, but I just didn't have the knack for it. I did learn a lot though. She taught me how to use different plants as medicine, which has helped a lot with this whole traveling thing. She said there were ways of testing plants to see if they were safe, but she died before she taught me that."

"Knowing about plants has been useful to you?" As much as he did not like to admit it, this girl was interesting. He'd never met a human before, so he really didn't know what to expect.

"Well, throughout most of human history, women were expected to be either living with their families or their husbands. Most times, women weren't even allowed to work, except in a couple of occupations. Being an herbalist or a prostitute is about the only two ways a woman can live without being married. So, since my oma taught me about herbs, I've been an herbalist most of the time."

"Most of the time?"

"Yeah…the first place I went looked at herbalists as witches and they tended to kill witches, so I taught kids how to read."

"Why not be a prostitute?" He really wanted to know why she reacted the way she did to Loki's comments.

"Couple of reasons, really," she shrugged. "Prostitutes were killed faster than witches there and I dislike the idea of selling my body. If I'm gonna have sex, it's going to be because I want to, not because I'm being paid to."

"What's wrong with getting paid to enjoy yourself?"

"Nothing, I suppose, if you're enjoying yourself. All the prostitutes I've known haven't enjoyed themselves, though. They always seem miserable and angry. And a lot of them ended up with diseases, which is how I got to know them. A lot of doctors or herbalists refused to see prostitutes as patients. Stupid hypocrites would go and visit them at night but refuse to see them during the day."

"So what actually bothers you is not prostitution but the attitudes about it?"

Bekka looked at him thoughtfully, "Yes, I suppose that would be accurate. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged, "Kitsune like sex. We enjoy seducing the reluctant to our beds. Even the most stubborn become willing participants, when we decide we want them. I just wanted to know why Loki's comments bothered you, too." He smiled at the expression on her face, a mixture of embarrassment and attempted nonchalance.

Bekka's mind reeled. Loki did so love to torment her, and this was just another of his games. She forced her mind onto something else. "So, how like a fox are you?" she asked, knowing the question was stupid.

"Tell me what you know about foxes and I'll answer." Kurama had to fight to keep from laughing at the girl.

"Well, in stories, they're said to be intelligent, clever, cunning, sly, sneaky, quick witted, and practically capable of vanishing." Bekka's mind was not in top form. Gods above, she thought, why does his bluntness weird me out so?

"I'd say that's fairly accurate." Deciding to ease the girl's discomfort a little, he asked, "How did you learn to play that violin thing?"

"Oh," she smiled at him, grateful for a topic she could use to turn her mind away from sex, "I learned from Papa Hayden, Franz Joseph Hayden to everyone else. His students called him papa. He was a master player. When I first approached him, he wouldn't take me as a student, though. He said I needed to learn to put my heart and soul into whatever I played or I would never be any good. He told me to learn to sing. I took singing lessons for four years before he allowed me to study with him. He said, 'You can be the best player in the world, but without passion, no one will remember you. Always play from your soul with everything you are, and even if you are a poor player, people will remember you fondly.' My violin used to be his. He left it to me when he died."

"Why did he tell you to learn to sing?"

"Because it's easier to put passion into the voice since it comes straight from the body. It actually only took about a year's worth of lessons for me to become a singer, but it took the other three to go from being technically good to being absolutely brilliant." She smiled at him, "Would you like to hear the difference? The salad was very good, by the way."

Kurama looked at her bowl, surprised to see it empty. When had she had time to eat with all the talking she'd done? He shrugged, and Bekka took that as assent. Standing, she moved to the center of the room, facing him. "Okay, I'm going to sing the same song twice. The first way will be technically perfect; the second way will be the way I sang to convince Papa Hayden to teach me." She opened her mouth and began a sweet tune. It was pleasant to listen to, her light soprano voice lilting through the melody. It was nice, but nothing that special. She ended the song, shifted her stance slightly and began the song again. This time, the melody throbbed with depth of feeling. The notes were the same, her voice still lilted, but there was much more to the song now. She finished the song the second time, watching him. "Well?"

"I've never heard that song before. What's it called?" He wasn't sure what she'd done or what she'd sang because the it was in a language he'd never heard before, but it almost felt as though he were being seduced.

"Oh, it's called Shule Aroon. The words are in Gaelic, Shule, shule, shule aroon, Shule go succir agus, shule go kewn; Shule go dheen durrus oggus aylig lume, Iss guh day thoo avorneen slawn. It means Come, come, come O love, Quickly come to me, softly move, Come to the door and away we'll flee, And safe forever may my darling be."

"It's remarkable," Kurama still hadn't quite fully recovered from the song's effects.

Laughing lightly, Bekka bowed and returned to her seat. Bekka noticed that the kitsune was watching her closely and this caused her to blush and look down to her lap. She noticed that she was still in the same clothes that she'd been thrown out of the monastery in. This thought caused her to frown and briefly forget the tension that'd been forming in the room. Still looking at her lap, she asked, "Is there anywhere I could bathe and change my clothes? I've been in these for almost a week too long already."

Her sudden change in mood reminded Kurama of her recent losses. If he was going to teach her, she needed to trust him. Now was not a good time to try and seduce her. There will be opportunity later, he thought to himself. "Yes, of course. Loki also delivered some clothing for you when he left your violin."

She looked up at him and smiled sadly, the light in her eyes dimmed from the sparkle that shone out when she sang. "Thank you," she said simply.

A/N: Well...I know there's plot holes with the other stories I've written...and this is a little stranger than those...but I'll work them out...somehow...Bekka is a lot younger here than in the other stories, and that's going to make her personality a little different. It makes her harder to write, actually. I'm mean to her, no? The song is an actual song. It's a very pretty song, but the verses are sad. I love Irish melodies, the way they lilt. Hayden was actually called "Papa Hayden" because he influenced a lot of composers, I think Mozart is on that list...maybe Beethoven too. He did indeed play the violin. I don't know if he said any of that stuff, though. I'm not good at naming stuff, so Makai plants are gonna have the same names as Ningenkai plants...unless I know other names. Why the focus on sex? He's a kitsune...in a lot of stories about kitsune, they take the form of beautiful people (usually women in the stories) and seduce them...I don't think there's quite the same implications as with the Western succubus, which would take the person's soul during the...ummm...culmination of the sex act...but, then, Japanese culture seems a little more accepting of some things than the JudeoChristian culture. Anyways...review please and tell me what you think :D


	2. Chapter 2

Bekka followed Kurama back to his room, looking down at her clothes. They were big on her since she'd been pregnant when she had put them on originally. She picked at the excess fabric over her abdomen, biting her lip as she did so to keep from sighing again. She thought she'd done the right thing, but had she? Would it have been better to choose the child over her husband? Not looking where she was going, she ran into Kurama when he stopped inside his room. With her lip still caught between her teeth, she looked up at him, blushing, "I'm sorry. I was lost in thought."

Kurama had not missed her actions. He had seen her fidgeting with her top. Choosing to ignore her apology, he pointed at the bag still sitting on the bed, "Your things."

She gave him a quick bow, unsure how to take his response. She walked over to the bed, sitting cross-legged on it, and pulled the bag into her lap. As she started pulling things out and holding them in front of her, she began making faces. "He can't be serious. This is what I'm supposed to wear?"

From where Kurama stood, he couldn't see what the problem was with the clothing. He moved over to stand behind her, trying to understand her comment. The item she was currently holding was a sleeveless black top with red ribbon laces up the center front. "I think it looks nice."

Snorting, Bekka shook her head, "Looks like I don't have much choice, other than color. At least until I can get something different to wear." She wadded the shirt up in her lap and began rummaging for the bottom half of the outfit. This time, she brought up a skirt that looked like it would fall to her ankles. It was black velvet with a slit up the front that revealed a panel of red fabric. "At least it's a decent length," she muttered. Kurama snorted at this comment. Smiling over her shoulder at him, she grabbed her brush and rose from the bed. "Lead on, I promise to watch where I'm going this time."

Kurama refrained from snorting at the girl again. In spite of himself, he was finding her amusing. Silently, he pointed over her head. She followed his arm with her eyes, bending over backwards to see where his finger pointed. Her eyes lit on an arch way she hadn't noticed before. "Oh," she muttered and turned around so that she was fully upright again and walked across the room. Reaching the opening, she turned around and smiled, "I can deal with being amusing." Kurama laughed at this comment.

Bekka entered the room. It was a large spacious chamber. The left half of it was taken by a large pool of water that steamed slightly. Along the wall to her right was a ledge that contained towels and a couple of jars.

"Those are cleanser," Kurama's voice spoke from above her head.

How had he gotten so close? He was almost touching her. Controlling herself enough not to squeak, she looked up to the golden eyes staring down at her, "Okay, thanks. I think I can handle it from here, thank you."

The side of his mouth quirked, "Are you sure about that? I really don't mind helping."

Bekka could feel her cheeks getting warm, "I'm sure, thank you, really."

His ears twitched a bit as he seemed to fight a smile, "Mind if I watch, then?"

Bekka could not maintain eye contact any longer. She dropped her eyes to the floor in front of her, "I'd rather you didn't," she muttered.

"Why?"

"Because the last time I saw my body, I was pregnant. I need to deal with things before I can cope with someone else seeing me."

Kurama placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up again. His eyes and face were serious, "I'll take that as a promise, Bekka. After your bath, I'll show you around. I also want to see how well you were trained. Hitting your head on the wall doesn't convince me much of your skill or that of your teachers."

Bekka nodded at this and Kurama left her in the bathing room. She could feel him a lot stronger when he touched her. He really did want to see her without clothing, more than see her, but he would not force himself on her. That comforted her. As for fighting, she knew he would start of easy, running her through all the basics first. He wasn't sure if it was because she was human or because she was close to passing out that caused her to hit the wall, nor was he entirely sure how the elite fighters of the Ningenkai would measure up in the Makai.

Putting her stuff on one of the bench height ledges, Bekka sat and began working out the tangles in her hair with her fingers as she thought. 'Well, I guess I can deal with being here, though I don't quite understand where here is. Demons are going to take a little time to get used to. At least he looks mostly human. Cute ears, I wonder if they're like a cat's? And that tail? It's rather interesting. You can tell how he feels just by looking at his ears and tail. I wonder if he knows how easy he is to read, even without trying to use this empathy stuff?'

Sighing, she picked up the brush and began running it through her hair, continuing in her musings about her host. 'I wonder what his powers are. I remember blaming him for the vines dropping me, but is that really his power? I should ask. How will he train me to use whatever it that Loki stuck me with now? Oh, well, I'm sure I'll find out soon enough.'

Bekka watched the brush as she pulled it through her long red hair. She knew that behind her musings as an attempt to delay removing her clothes and seeing her body. She knew that her stomach would be flat, unmarked by even the faintest marks that it had once been distended with child, but as long as she didn't see it, she could deny the fact that she had chosen to kill her own child for the sake of a man who then rejected her. If she didn't look at her body, then the past wasn't real. Putting the brush down firmly, she stood up. "Denial will get me no where," she muttered under her breath. She took a deep breath and pulled at the ties that kept her shirt tied around her upper body. The brown over shirt slid down her arms onto the floor along with the belt. Underneath was a white shirt that she pulled over her head. With her eyes closed, she untied the belt holding up the pants and stepped out of them. Completely naked, she stood for a bit with her eyes closed, breathing deeply, trying to prepare herself to open her eyes. She could feel her body trembling. Biting her lip, she opened her eyes and brought her hands up before them. Locking her eyes on her hands, she slowly brought them to her belly. It was flat, like she knew it would be, not a mark, nothing left to show she'd ever been with child. Groaning, she fell to her knees, tears streaming from her vacant eyes. Her body rocked back and forth as she wrapped her arms around her waist. She was unaware of the constant stream of "why's" falling from her lips as she allowed her grief to overcome her.

While he did not watch her directly, Kurama was aware of what Bekka was doing through his connection with the plants in the room. Her grief was palpable, even in the bedroom. He wanted to offer her some comfort, but he knew that she also needed to trust him. He sat on the bed, trying to block out his awareness of the plants in the bathroom without causing them to wither. She needed to be alone. That's what she wanted. He sighed, determined to wait.

After a time, even the heaviest grief dissipates, if even only for a brief moment. Bekka's eyes became aware again of the room around her and her tears slowed. Shivering, she placed her hands on the ground next to her knees. Her breathing was ragged gasps as she worked on focusing on the ground in front of her. She felt numb, empty, not even alive as her breathing evened out. Sighing, she pushed herself back to sit on her heals, looking again at her belly. She was too drained even to feel a twinge of sorrow over its deflated state. With a shake of her head, she pushed herself up to stand, again feeling the dizziness sweep over her. It was worse this time with the emotional exhaustion. Her body collapsed in a heap where she had just been kneeling, a startled gasp managing to escape her lips as she lost her grip on consciousness.

Kurama heard when her crying stopped. He allowed himself to become aware of the room again. She had exhausted herself. He sighed to himself. Her weakness was going to be problematic if he was supposed to train her. Walking to the doorway, he looked at the crumpled heap of girl on the floor. Shaking his head and sighing again, he picked her up. She responded to his touch by leaning into him and clutching the front of his shirt. He approached to the pool and walked in with her. Sitting in the warm water with her in his lap, Kurama began to run his fingers through her hair, wetting it. Bekka sighed and relaxed into his touch, remaining unconscious. He continued wetting her hair, adding in cleanser when it was completely dampened. Satisfied that her hair was clean, he brought the hand that had been wrapped around her up behind her neck, guiding her back to dip her head in the water. This movement caused her to open her eyes to open in surprise. Her eyes took a moment to focus on him, however, a sign of her continued exhaustion.

"Quite," Kurama ordered before she could protest. "You are exhausted. You need more time to recover. Just relax. I won't try anything. I like my partners willing and able and you're in no condition for me to even consider you as a partner."

"I'm sorry I'm such a problem," she managed to whisper.

"Didn't I tell you to be quite? You've been through a lot. Loki said that most humans would have died experiencing what you have. You're not dead, but you do need time to recover." The words surprised the kitsune as they left his mouth, but as he said it, he could see the sense of the words. "I'm going to finish rinsing your hair and then you're going to bed. When you wake up, you can tell me about the elements, okay?"

Bekka nodded, allowing herself to relax in the demon's arms. She watched his face as he continued to lower her until her hair was completely under the water, only her face above. His expression was still, calm as his fingers massaged her scalp and ran through her hair. With such close contact, she was having trouble sorting out which impressions were wholly hers and which were his. She felt his surprise when he comforted her and his sincerity when he said he wouldn't try anything on her and the lingering 'yet' behind those words. He stood up with her, causing her to gasp and grip his shirt again. It occurred in some part of her brain that he was dressed while bathing her, reinforcing that he would not force his attentions on her. Bekka barely managed to remain awake as he wrapped her in a towel, using another to dry her hair.

Kurama twitched an ear in what would have been a smirk had it been on his lips and began to massage the girl's scalp. She was very responsive to his gentle touch and fell asleep in his arms. He carried her to the bed and gently placed her on her back. She murmured and promptly turned over on her side, curling into a small ball with her fingers touching her lower lip. She looked almost like a child sucking its fingers in her sleep. Were she a demon, she would be considered a child, but it was obvious that she was not, by the depth of grief she has just experienced. Returning to the bathroom, Kurama removed his wet clothing and reentered the pool. It bothered him that he had said things without knowing why before hand. That wasn't normal for him. But, then, having someone else with him in his personal space wasn't normal, either. 'This ningen girl has managed to turn my life upside down. Not that it's really her fault. She seems sincere in her desire to not be a burden. What is it Loki sees in her? Why am I bothering myself with her? I hate being trapped. Damn them both.'

Frustrated with his line of thinking, Kurama decided he needed some relief. Getting out of the pool, he dried himself off, dressed, and, after checking that the girl was soundly asleep, left his caves for the nearest town.

When Bekka awoke, she could feel Kurama's arm draped over her waist and his chest pressed against her back. His mind was asleep, more relaxed. She guessed he had relieved himself with someone while she slept. Why was he holding her, though? She felt his mind waken and, somehow, he knew she was awake.

"You're cute when you're asleep," he murmured into her ear as he nuzzled into her hair. Bekka wasn't quite sure how to take this. "Tell me about your elements, Bekka." He continued to hold her.

"Like this?" she asked.

"Aren't you comfortable?"

"Physically or mentally?"

He snorted at her answer and moved to sit up, releasing her in the process. "You seem in a better mood. How do you feel?"

Bekka frowned slightly at the question and the fact that she was only wearing a towel. Binding the fabric as well as she could around her body, she sat up while thinking of the answer to his question. "Kind of drained, but not so exhausted. I guess that's better. I feel numb, almost." She shrugged, looking at him with a little grin, "Did your partner enjoy you last night?"

The only thing that gave away his surprise at her question was a quick flick of his ears, "Yes, of course."

"Good. Now, as for the elements, or at least I'm pretty sure these are the ones Loki means, there are four major elements and one combined. Well, there are more combined, but only one that really matters. The four are fire, water, earth, and air. The combined one is known by several names, akasha, void, spirit, soul, and life are among these."

"Where did you learn all this?"

"From my oma," Bekka smiled at him.

"Your grandmother could use elemental magic?"

Bekka thought a moment before answering, "Not the way Loki wants me to, I think. She did believe that understanding magic was important. My mother thought it was silly for me to spend so much time learning about such useless trivia. My oma was my father's mother, you see. Anyway, she believed that by understanding the elements and bringing them into balance, that it would help make life better and more fulfilling. I liked being at my oma's house mostly because my brother and sister wouldn't go over there. They liked to beat me up, and they both were bigger than me, even though I was older."

Kurama was amused by this confession, but also realized the girl was getting off track. "What did your oma teach you about the elements?"

Bekka blushed a little, "Sorry. Okay, each element has characteristics that are associated with it, physical and emotional characteristics as well as colors, plants, gems, and metals that are supposed to help focus and invoke the element. Earth is a cool wet energy, solid, stable. Its color is green, plants are things like patchouli and mosses that smell earthy. Gems are either dark opaque, like coal, not that it's much of a gem, or green, like emerald. The metals are iron and lead. Earth energy is stabilizing and firm.

"Air is hot and wet, dynamic, free, always in motion, suspended. Its color is yellow, plants are fragrant, like flower blossoms or dill. Gems are light or reflective, like mica. The metals are tin or copper. Air energy is intelligent and dynamic.

"Fire is hot and dry, dynamic, but grounded, consuming and creative. Its color is red, plants are either stinging, thorned, or hot, like thistles or chilies. Gems are red or clear, like jasper or quartz. The metals are gold or brass. Fire energy is passionate and has the potential to create or destroy.

"Water is hot and wet, cleansing, healing, purifying and receptive. Its color is blue, plants either grow in water or are fleshy, like water lilies or lettuce. Gems are transparent or translucent or blue, like amethyst or aquamarine. The metals are silver or copper. Water energy is life affirming and loving. Any questions so far?"

Kurama looked at the girl, amazed at the quantity of information she'd managed to impart so quickly. "Not yet. Continue please."

Bekka thought a moment before continuing. "Oma said that people had what she called a 'native element,' one that would always be the easiest to use and learn. It's possible to learn all of them, it just takes work, she said.

"Akasha comes from a work that means 'sparkling' or 'radiant.' It is the fifth element, but its form is unknown and unknowable. It contains the other four elements in perfect balance. Akasha is nothing and everything. It is the spirit and spark that creates life. To be able to work with it would allow the witch to do almost anything.

"I have a question, please," Bekka interrupted herself.

Kurama's eyebrow twitched in confusion at this sudden remark. "Ask."

"What's your power?" Bekka had to almost physically bite her tongue to keep from rushing on, explaining and justifying her question.

"I can control plants."

"All of them?"

"I haven't come across any I can't."

Bekka thought for a moment, frowning intently at the bed. "Well, I guess that's why Loki wanted me to train with you."

Not quite following her logic, he asked, "Why?"

Bekka brought his eyes up to meet his. "As I said, plants have elemental associations. IF you can control any plant, then you have some control over akasha. As much as I hate to admit it, Loki does always seem to stick me in the best places to learn." Kurama's ears flicked slightly and she continued, "I was at the monastery to learn self-defense and over come a fear of heights." Her eyes began to show signs of mirth, "There are legends about the monks, some even saying they could fly."

"Well, could they?" Knowing that she had set up this line of questions, Kurama played along, some how relieved she was playing.

"Could they what?" she asked, feigning innocence badly.

"Could they fly?" he growled at her, acting as if her were irritated, though his ears and tail indicated he was having fun.

"Could who fly?" her voice shook with the laughter she was trying to hold back. 'Why does he make me feel silly?'

Kurama pulled himself to his hands and knees, approaching the girl with mock menace, "Could the monks at the monastery fly?" He reached out a hand to grab her arm.

Before he could catch her, though, Bekka managed to leap backwards off the bed, seeming to almost float several feet away, "I don't know," she replied, laughing, "You tell me." She then started feeling dizzy again.

Kurama noticed the change in the girl's breathing. Dropping the game they'd been playing, "You're not recovered enough to fly. Sit back down." That she obeyed without arguing surprised him.

"If you're right, it's stupid to argue," Bekka muttered as she sat on the bed.

"Exactly how much do you pick up with your empathy?" Kurama was finding her continued remarks on his thoughts disturbing.

"When we're just like this," she waved her hand to indicate the space between them, "only very strong thought, which I comment on. I'm telling you everything I read off of you. When you touch me, it's easier to read more, but then it's mostly sensations, not really thoughts. This morning, I could feel that you were relaxed and satisfied. I put two and two together to reach my own conclusions and asked a question to confirm it. If you hadn't been touching me, I don't think I would have picked up on that."

"You seem to be learning it pretty quickly," he commented dryly.

Bekka frowned slightly, catching the implication that he thought she was not being entirely honest with him, and that he expected that. Sighing, she tried to explain, "It's like another voice in my head, almost like hearing you directly in my head. Most of the time, it's like a low hum or murmur, but if I focus on it, it gets louder and more distinct. Sometimes, I hear comments without even focusing on them." She continued to watch him, uncertain what else to say to put him at ease.

Before he could say anything, however, Bekka's body made its own comment. Kurama flicked an ear and grinned at her embarrassment. "Stay here, I'll bring you something to eat." She looked ready to apologize when he continued, effectively cutting her off, "I need to eat, too. And do quit apologizing for everything. It gets tiresome." With that, he left the room

A/N Well...Chapter two...and if you consider that I'm trying to move while writing this...I want more reviews, darn it...my muse is torturing me! I love my reviewers...they make me smile and laugh and feel all good about writing and everything ;D Anyway...there is a point to this author's note (like there's supposed to be?). I knew about the elements before I started this, but I had to do research to get the plant alignments...in my research, I found that a couple of my ideas about the elements were wrong...I've never actually met an intellegent person with air as their element...they're usually...well...flakey. Earth people are sensible, Water people tend to be kind-hearted, Fire people are chaotic (guess which one I am.. :D ). I am letting my muse have his way with this story, and he's having fun playing with the kitsune. Hope you like it...but, I'm not trying to actually write romance (and Bekka's way too weird to be a mary sue, no?)...actually, I don't think Bekka will come to love Kurama...will they do anything anyway...I don't know...my muse won't tell me! Be kind to the over worked one and review. Next chapter, I'll tell you my element (yes, I actually believe this stuff...I am a pagan..but I take liberties to make it work in fiction...gotta love a faith where the only thing that's sacred is "as long as it don't hurt anyone, do whacha wanna do" okay, actual wording is "an it harm none, do what you will"...but...nothing is sacred ;) ) Enough of my rambling...review...I command you...my muse George commands...Kurama commands...Loki does too...lol


	3. Chapter 3

When Kurama returned with food, he was disturbed by the sight that greeted him. Bekka was still on the bed, but she was rocking back and forth, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Uncertain what he was seeing, he cautiously walked around the bed to see her face. Her eyes were blank and unresponsive, fixed on something he could not see. Her mouth worked, but no sound came out. "Bekka?" he said, trying to get her attention, to no avail. "Bekka?" louder, again, no response. He was perplexed by this strange behavior. "Absinthe?" he tried, but with no response. What the hell was he supposed to do with her now?

"She is still grieving," Loki's voice spoke to him. "It's going to take a while for her to stop."

"Why couldn't she be over it already before you brought her here?" Kurama felt his anger at this Loki thing and the whole situation growing.

"Because, Kurama, she would have tried to kill herself."

"And the problem with that would be?" 'Honestly, these humans!' he thought in exasperation.

"I am not human. While in the game, she is not permitted to die."

"Then release her and let her die."

"It is not that easy, kitsune. I said before, the moves are set. The humans have a game called chess. In that game, each piece is only allowed to make certain moves. The game cannot end until a specific piece is trapped. Until that happens, the game continues." Loki's voice paused, "What will help her is comforting her and giving her something else to focus on."

"Why is it up to me to fix what you broke? I never agreed to be one of your chess pieces. I most certainly did not wish for this."

"As she said, you are the best option. We need her to learn a few other things from you as well."

"'We?' And what now?"

"Oberon, and she needs to learn to be a thief as well. Going around in public with that empathy of hers is going to be a challenge, but focusing her mind is part of controlling the elements."

"Why does she need to be a thief?" This god had a lot of gall!

Same reason she needs to know martial arts and herbology and magic. To continue in the game. Tomorrow, start training her, test her, force her to focus. For now, she needs to eat and sleep again."

"Why…"

Before Kurama could finish his question, Loki cut him off, "I promised you information. She is not your only source, you know. Hold her, make her eat, and put her back to sleep."

Though the god had at no time appeared, Kurama knew he was gone. Masking an exasperated sigh, he composed himself enough to climb on the bed next to Bekka, who continued to be unaware of him. Putting the bowels next to him, he tentatively reached out to touch the girl's arm. She turned to face him, finally. Her eyes remained vacant, pained, dry. Her mouth continued to work soundlessly. Pulling her into his lap, he wrapped his arms around her. Bending over her to rest his chin on her head, he wondered aloud, "What am I going to do with you?"

A sob managed to escape her, "I'm sorry."

As gently as he could, Kurama pulled away enough to tip her face to look at him. "I told you to stop apologizing for everything. You've been through a lot." He brought his lips to her forehead in a tender kiss. "You just need time to heal," he whispered. Pulling back, he smiled softly at her as he snuggled her closer, resting his chin on her head again as she relaxed against him again. 'I'm going to kill Loki,' he thought viciously, at odds with his calm exterior.

"Not until I get finished with him!" the girl in his arms snarled without moving.

Keeping her close, he asked, "And what will you do to him, Bekka?"

"Rip out his heart while laughing and dance on it before returning it to his chest," she answered viciously.

"You'd kill him?" Kurama was amused by her viciousness.

"No," she countered, "that's too quick, too clean, too fast. He needs to suffer!" during her vituperation, she had remained physically relaxed against Kurama's body. She sighed, "But, he's a god and I'm only human. I guess it doesn't hurt to have goals, even if I'll never reach them." She pushed away from him, looking him in the face, not quite making eye contact, "Did I make the right decision?" Her eyes pleaded for an answer.

Kurama was not as surprised by the question as disturbed by it. Somewhere in his brain, he'd been wondering what choice he would have made. "I don't know, Bekka," he answered honestly. "Loki said you passed, for all that's worth." She looked ready to say something when he laid a finger on her lips. "Bekka, it is in the past. It is in neither of our powers to go back and change it. We can only go forward. No more talk. You are going to eat and go back to sleep."

Bekka opened her mouth to protest, but was forced to deal with the food Kurama popped in. Her mouth worked mechanically as she glared at him. He cocked an eyebrow and popped a morsel in his own mouth. Bekka sighed, turning her attention to what she was eating. It tasted citrusy and minty at the same time. She raised her eyebrows questioningly. Kurama winked at her and continued chewing. Again, when she tried to open her mouth to ask what she was eating, he popped more food in it. She tried focusing on his thoughts, but the close contact made it difficult. Added to that, he wasn't actually thinking, at least not in words. Sighing in resignation, she allowed him to continue feeding her.

"Now," Kurama said when all the fruit was eaten, "you need more sleep." He began massaging her scalp again.

"What kind of f-f-fruit was that?" she asked, yawning.

"It's a special hybrid of mine. I haven't named it."

"'sit's really good." Bekka's eyes were drooping as she yawned again. Surrendering, she fell asleep in his arms for the second time in as many days. Her last thought before darkness claimed her was, 'I could get used to this.'

Kurama watched the girl as she slept in his arms. His three encounters with Loki prevented him from blaming her for his inconvenience. He placed her on the bed after he was sure she was asleep and took the bowels back to the kitchen. He was about to sit in his living area when he heard Bekka began screaming. He rushed to the room to see her thrashing about.

"Sensei! Sensei!" she screamed, reaching out. Suddenly, she sat upright, eyes wide, "NO!" All the tension suddenly left her body and she collapsed in a heap, sobbing.

Kurama approached her, "Bekka?" He wasn't even sure if he'd get a response from her.

Her body shuddered, but she did not turn to him. Her face remained buried in her lap so that he could barely make out what she said. "It was my fault, I killed my first sensei because I was afraid of heights. They said it wasn't my fault, but it was. I couldn't kill another sensei, so I killed my child. I am a murder. I killed them. I did it. I did it." The words became a chant and she rocked in time to it.

Grabbing her shoulders, he pulled her upright. Shaking her, Kurama forced her to look at him. With dull eyes, she stared at him defiantly. "The past is the past. Leave it there. You are not responsible for what that damn god does. Let it go," he growled at her fiercely. She started to protest and he shook her, letting his anger flare. He watched her eyes widen as she became aware of this. "What is in the past does well to stay there. Look forward." The tension left her body and she sagged in his arms. Kurama gathered her into his lap again, letting his fingers play in her hair.

"My oma used to put me to sleep this way, too," she murmured against his chest, sighing.

"Tell me about you oma," he suggested gently, hoping that something pleasant would help her recover.

"She was very nice," Bekka's voice was soft and slow, seeming to come from a distance. "She made cookies and bread all the time so her house always smelled delicious. She didn't live very far from us. When I was in trouble, I used to sneak out of my window to go visit her. She always had something to show me, something new, the first signs of life in the garden, a bird's nest, little things that made her world beautiful. She tried to teach me how to garden. I tried to do everything she said, but it didn't go well. She rescued it when she found me crying over my poor wilted plants. She hugged me and told me it was okay that I couldn't help the garden grow, that not everyone could, and I was better at preparing medicines than she was. I didn't know it at the time, but she was very old. One day, I went over and she asked if I would be okay if she left for a while. I was fourteen. I knew she wasn't well enough to travel anywhere, so I asked her where she was going. She smiled and said she was joining akasha. I hugged her, told her I'd miss her and left. She died that night. My parents were angry that I didn't go to the funeral. I didn't see the point. My oma wasn't there. Sometimes, I dream about her and it seems so real, like she's actually with me." Bekka's voice had trailed off to where Kurama could barely hear the end of the story. With a sigh, she was fully asleep again.

Kurama sighed. Rather than risk having her screaming again, he decided to stay with her. She seemed somehow comforted by his presence. Shifting carefully, he arranged their bodies so that they were lying on their sides. Eventually, he, too, drifted off to sleep.

Bekka again woke with the weight of Kurama's arm over her body. She was still dressed only in a towel, but it had slipped down her body so that it only covered her from the waist down. Kurama's arm passed between her breasts to hold her shoulder as he slept. He again nuzzled into her hair as he became aware of her being awake.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, his breath brushing past her ear.

"More or less,"

Drawing his hand over her body, he pinched her, "Go get dressed."

She squeaked at him and glared fiercely. She gathered the towel around herself as well as she could and scooted off the bed. She managed to get up without getting dizzy, to her relief. She moved quickly and returned shortly with the black skirt and shirt she'd picked out to wear the day before. She had also brushed her hair so that it hung down her back smoothly. Kurama appraised the sight before him frankly. The black set off the red of the accent fabric and her hair beautifully. Her pale face could use a bit more color, but that would come in time. She was beginning to fidget under his gaze, turning her head to the side so that her hair partially obscured her face. "You look very nice. Come on," he said getting up from the bed.

Kurama noticed that she reacted quickly. She was just behind him as he left the room, alert to his movements. Silently, he led her past the living room to the large open cave he used to practice. The walls were gouged in several places from his whip. He looked over his shoulder at her. She was focused oh him, waiting. Crossing his arms over his chest, he challenged her, "Show me what you learned."

Bekka frowned slightly, "You mean like all the forms? Or like a match?"

"Start with the forms." The word was unfamiliar to him, but he figured from her follow up question, forms were solo exercises. "And do all that you know, from easiest to hardest."

Bowing to him, she moved to the center of the room, turned to face him and bowed again. Fluidly, she moved into a defensive crouch and began throwing punches and kicks. The ease with which she moved showed long practice with the movements. He watched her, enjoying the flowing sharp precise movements. Even though he could tell the skirt was not ideal for this work, she kept the forms moving, never actually adjusting it. It just seemed to adjust itself to allow for the freedom of movement she needed. The forms grew more complex, looking like a dance that flowed throughout the room. Defense and offense seamed together into a liquid series of movements. Jumps and rolls were added without a break in the rhythm of the dance. The music was the sound of the air being shattered by her attacks and her yells of force. Time lost meaning as her hypnotic actions fascinated him. He was almost caught off guard when she stopped moving, standing erect in the center of the room, and bowed at him. He watched as she stood waiting.

He wanted to watch her move more. The ease and grace of her forms impressed him. "What weapons do you know?"

She could feel his admiration and was glad she was flush from the exercise or she would be blushing. "Bo staff and spear."

Kurama withdrew a seed from his hair and caused a stalk of bamboo to grow rapidly. He was surprised when she said to stop. He looked at her curiously, "Why?"

"If you want me to use it, it's the right length now." He regarded her for so long she grew uncertain of her actions and began to fidget.

Deciding she had waited long enough and satisfied with her answer, he fixed the staff at its current growth and threw it to her. She caught it easily and held it loosely, waiting. Her attention and obedience boded well for the future of her training. "Begin."

The staff began to move quickly, rotating around its midpoint. The ends of the staff were in constant motion, making it difficult to predict where the next strike would begin. Again, she moved with grace and confidence, progressing through more difficult movements. She was a delight to watch.

After a time, she changed her hold on the staff, using it like a spear. She started again with simple movements, progressing through to more complex sequences. Though, by his standards, those of the Makai, her movements were slow, he still found her a pleasurable distraction. He wondered if her speed was slow because she was going through forms or because she was human.

She bowed at him once again, signaling the end of exercises. Her hair hung in damp strands across her face, her breaths coming in pants, but she held herself upright and still, waiting. He could see that she was trembling. She had been performing for him for several hours. Turning, he flicked his tail at her and left the room.

Perplexed, Bekka followed him, leaning the staff against the wall near the entrance. He couldn't read anything off him beyond he enjoyed watching her. This confused her. Did she not do well? Did she not meet his standards? Biting her lip, she tried to read his body language as he led her to the living room.

Continuing into the kitchen, Kurama flicked his tail at the chair Bekka had sat in before. He gathered together two bowels of fruits and was gratified to see she had obeyed his silent command. Her breathing was almost back to normal again and her face was glowing. She had shaken her hair back behind her shoulders, no longer smooth after the long work out. Her eyes followed him across the room and to his seat opposite her. She was waiting for his assessment of her skills. He wouldn't give her an answer until he sparred with her, though. "After we eat, I want to see how you do in a match. I want to see if you can use what you so beautifully demonstrated." He was rewarded with a blush and a nod. 'She is pleasant on the eyes,' he thought, burying the thought deeply, hoping she didn't catch it. 'Why am I concerned with her knowing I think she's nice to look at?' he wondered in the same deep place in his brain. She didn't react to either thought, he noticed. She wasn't looking at him, so he allowed his ear to flick in annoyance with himself.

Bekka was gratified that he thought she'd done well. Not that he'd said so, exactly, but that was the impression she'd gotten. It'd been some time since she'd had to run through the forms. Some of them were rusty, she felt. She looked forward to sparring with him. It was then, she could show him more, truly, where her strengths were and, with those strengths, look for his weaknesses. She knew that he would be looking for hers as well, so she ran through some scenarios mentally while she ate. So focused on her mental games, she did not hear Kurama rise from the table and was surprised too see her bowel move from before her. 'Pay attention!' she chided herself, standing to follow him as he returned to the dojo.

Kurama walked to the center of the room, pleased to see her following. If she continued to be obedient, it was possible the task would not be so tiresome. She stood alertly, watching, waiting. They both knew the advantage to begin with would be his in this fight because he had seen her go through the forms while she still had not seen his fighting style. This would be a true test of her skills, not just as a fighter, but as an observer. He would not go easy on her. Creating his rose whip, he watched as her eyes grew larger momentarily. Her stance, however, did not change. She did not drop into a defensive crouch, but continued to regard him calmly. He brought the whip into motion, swinging it in tight arcs around his body, but still she stood. Wondering what was wrong with the girl he allowed the whip to snake out towards her. The whip bit into the ground where her feet had been. She had moved behind its arc, avoiding the whip and the chips of rock that flew up from where it gouged the floor. Kurama's ears twitched in surprise while his mouth curled into a smile. Bekka returned the smile, continuing to stand upright and watch him.

"Are you going to arm yourself?" Kurama asked, bringing his whip in, preparing for the next series of attacks.

Bekka gave a nonchalant shrug, knowing she was baiting the kitsune, "If I need to, I will."

Kurama's ears flicked back at this challenge. "If I give you the chance," he retorted. Raising the whip, he announced, "Kumite," as he began to lash at her feet, sending her dancing to the farside of the room, placing himself between her and the staff.

"Kumite? I thought you'd started already," she countered, recognizing his tactics, but going along for the moment.

"You think this is starting?" he asked, aiming a lash toward her head, forcing her to duck.

"Hmm," she considered, watching the whip sail through the space she had just occupied, "No, not yet." She was beginning to develop ideas for strategies, but still need to observe how he used the whip before she could begin to truly counter his attacks.

The whip lashed out rapidly, wanting to wrap itself around her body, she was no longer in position, however, having moved behind its arc. Hungrily, its direction changed, wanting to hold her in its grasp. She ducked underneath its path, however. Viciously, the whip snapped down. Not having room to maneuver backwards, she rolled in, sweeping a leg out to kick Kurama's legs. Not being caught off guard, he leapt away from her, bringing the whip down as he did. To his surprise, she caught the whip, using it to pull him off balance. Recovering quickly, he pulled back, wrenching it from her grasp. She leapt away from her position, again seeming to float as she did, landing far enough away that he would have to move to attack her. She grinned at him, eyes alert, "Now, we have begun."

For the next several hours, the two continued to spar. Several times, Kurama landed hits on the girl, but she did not cry out. She too managed to land a few attacks on him, but his demonic speed made it difficult for her to get more in. Kurama called halt when his whip dug deep into her back, tearing her shirt and skin and bringing a gasp to her lips. Exhausted, Bekka fell to her hands and knees, panting. She was dripping sweat and it stung in all the cuts she'd received in the course of the match. Kurama's own breathing was coming harder as he walked over to the girl. He reached down, pulling her to her feet. "C'mon, you need a bath and then we're going to eat and sleep."

A/N Hooray…another chapter done! My muse hates me, just so you know…I am writing this story by hand and then typing it up because I currently am a 2 hour bus ride away from my computer and will be for a little while longer…I actually typed half of this chapter up twice (once on my computer, once on a friend's) so I could post it for you and get my muse off my back for a while….vicious creature, George….I'm thinking of changing his name to Loki…it seems to fit…. :D Anyway…I have a couple of things to say in this note…ramble, as one of my reviewers called it (I'm not online at the moment, so I forgot the name, but I really thank you, reviews mean a lot to me). I was told that the tone of my note can be a little jarring after reading my story…well, the note is written how I normally talk, while I blame the stories on George, as you know (or should)...I view the author's note as somewhere I can let you know a little more about me and my thinking process as I write and about nifty keen junk I learn while researching things for my stories. OH! I must must say thank you thank you thank you to the wonderful Shadow Jaganshi :D She was appalled that I only got three reviews a chapter (she and I correspond regularly via e-mail and I complain to her often about this story) so she directed her readers to find me :D Lessee…I actually have a list for this author's note so I'd remember everything….Oh, "forms" is the term used for a series of choreographed movements in martial arts…there are other terms, but that was the easiest and the others would require me to know exactly which form of martial arts Bekka studied. Kumite is a Japanese martial arts term that means "to spar" and is used to begin a sparring match…why Japanse instead of Korean or Chinese…cause I already knew the Japanese and got lazy and didn't want to look up the Chinese (which would have been the more correct term, had Bekka spoken it….) Oh, hey, Kurama said it…never mind…I'm not lazy…I'm unknowingly brilliant :P (just kidding). Last topic: I saw a show on different styles of using the bo staff…the Chinese use the style I described, Japanese use more economic movements (that's the phrase the show used), and the Westerners use a more forceful style….now you know, don't you feel smart? I hope so…tell me by reviewing (oh, yeah…my elemental is fire….for those that wanted to know…and yes, Shadow, so is yours)


	4. Chapter 4

Kurama led Bekka to the bathroom, moving her to stand with her back to him in the center of the room. She looked over her shoulder at him curiously. "I want to check that last cut. You didn't dodge as well as I expected and it went deeper than it should have." His eyes were curiously dark as he waited for her to respond.

She looked down her back, unable to see where the wound was. He eyes went up to meet his again. "How bad is it?" she asked, feeling that the question was some how inadequate.

His eyes never left hers as he placed his right hand just below her right shoulder blade and his left hand near her spine just below her waist. "That long," he answered.

Bekka was almost overwhelmed by his touch. She closed her eyes, trying to focus, to block, to think, anything that would stop her head from swirling, his touch from burning her. Biting her lip, she shook her head. She heard him sigh as the quality of his touch changed, cooled. She opened her eyes to see that his had lightened to their normal color. "Is it bad?" she asked, continuing their verbal conversation.

He shrugged, his hands still on her back, "It's hard to tell, your shirt is in the way."

Rolling her eyes at him, and relieved that his touch remained cool and almost playful, she muttered "fine" as her hands went to her waist to pull up the offending garment. She hissed in pain as the combined motion and movement of the fabric aggravated the cut.

Kurama placed is hands on her arms. "Let me do that." Surprised at the amount of pain, Beakka nodded, bringing her arms up away from her body. He slid his hands under the shirt, running them up her back and arms as he pushed the fabric up and off her. The touch almost caused her to shiver, something not missed by the attentive kitsune. "Cold?" he asked, though he knew the real reason she had tensed.

"No," she answered, voice breathy, forced to be light. "A little ticklish, maybe?"

Kurama laughed at this blatant lie. Holding her waist, he knelt behind her so he could better examine the lash he'd given her. I was deepest near her waist, where the tip of the whip had begun to curl around, but for the most part, it just broke the skin. What made it painful was that it crossed her spine. He drew his tongue up along the wound, causing the girl to gasp and shudder in his hands. His lips touched her spine just below her neck when he heard her gasp, "Don't, please." Pulling back, he looked at her. She was trembling, holding herself stiff, her hands clenched at her sides, head bowed.

"Bekka," he said gently, releasing his hold on her waist, "look at me." She turned around to face him, a mixture of fear and shame on her face. She refused to meet his eyes so he placed a finger under her chin, tipping it until her eyes met his. "I won't do anything you don't want, understand?" She nodded against his finger. "But," he continued with a small grin, "I will keep trying, okay?" She returned half his grin before her face fell again.

Bekka stepped back slightly, "I'm sorry," she said, avoiding looking at him. "I need some time to think, to work things out. I have to get my head sorted out. Please…" her voice trailed off, unsure how to phrase her request. She needed time alone, without his thoughts in her mind.

Kurama looked at her, thinking. He had an idea what she wanted but couldn't bring herself to ask. "Will you be okay here if I go out for a while?"

Bekka's face showed a mixture of relief and embarrassment at his offer. "I-I-I'll be fine," she stammered. "Thank you."

Kurama stood, cupping her cheek in his hand, bending down to reduce the height difference between them, "There's food in the kitchen. Don't forget to eat while you sort out your head." He placed a light kiss on her forehead before turning and leaving. Pausing at the door, he looked back over his shoulder at the girl in the center of the room, "Tomorrow, we begin your training, Bekka." She bowed as he left the room.

Bekka stayed in place until she could no longer hear the murmur of Kurama's thoughts, about at the point where he left the cave. The silence in her mind was almost deafening as she picked up her ruined shirt. Holding it to her chest, she walked into the bedroom. Stopping abruptly, she thought how ridiculous her attempt at modesty was. Shaking her head, she began digging through her clothes when she came across two boxes. Opening them, she found a board with an eight by eight square grid in one and thirty two carved pieces in the other. "'This will help,' she thought, setting the boxes on the bed. Pulling out an ivory top and skirt that had silver accent fabrics, Bekka returned to the bath.

When Kurama returned several hours later, he was surprised to see Bekka was still awake in the living area contemplating the odd items from her bag. She looked at him with tired, calm eyes. "I have reached a decision," she announced without preamble. He flicked an ear in curiosity. "I have decided, for my own sanity, I cannot hold onto the past. I can remember it, but I have to move on, to continue to adapt and grow. Remaining fixated on what I've lost only causes harm. Oma told me the only law of magic is to do no harm, even to myself. She was right, you are right." Abruptly she stopped talking and began clearing away the pieces.

Kurama watched her, unsure how to respond or even what to think of this child. She didn't seem to need a response, however, as she continued placing the pieces in their box. "What are those?" he asked, indicating the artifacts.

Bekka glanced at him questioningly. "It's a chess set." She felt a flash of something she couldn't quite place. "What?" she asked. He looked at her blankly, ear twitching, wondering exactly what her question was. Exasperated, and too tired to hide it well, Bekka explained sharply, "When I said 'chess' you flashed something. It was too fast for me to really identify. Why did you react?"

Kurama eyed the girl, considering. She waited, watching him. Finally, reaching his decision, "Loki has been giving me information in exchange for training you. He said you were involved in something like a chess game." He stopped when he noticed her smirking. "What?" he asked.

Bekka laughed bitterly. "Loki has a couple of titles that are just extremely fitting. He is called the god of mischief and games." Shaking her head, "It fits that he'd give me a chess game and tell you about it. Do you want me to teach you?"

Ignoring the question, Kurama asked, "Why were you playing?"

Sighing, Bekka shrugged, "I needed to think. The things going around in my head polarized into two sides. I assigned each side a color. Every move I made, I listed an argument in support of the side the piece represented. The side that won is the side that I would go with as being right." She pulled a wry face, "Actually, I didn't finish the game. I realized that the arguments of one side were too weak to stand." Rising from the chair, stretching, she smiled at him. "Good night, Kurama-sensei," she quipped as she walked past him.

Perplexed, he watched her, wondering if her oddities were part of being human or female. He heard her laughing from the room. Frowning, he walked into the room, finding her already lying on the bed. She smiled at him, "I'm just odd. It has nothing to do with being female or human. And, just so you know, you're easier to read when you're upset or confused." Yawning, she closed her eyes and muttered, "Good night."

Shaking his head, he climbed into bed behind her, pulling her close as he settled down. As he felt her relax into sleep, he allowed himself to think. 'Just when I think I'm beginning to understand her, she goes and does something strange. She claims to be odd. Is this what Loki meant by having traits that set her apart? She is a puzzle, that's for sure. She fights well, though, though her speed could use improvement, and her endurance. She does seem passionate, though. She'll need to learn control over that temper of hers. Odd, using that chess game of her to sort out her head. Does that mean I won't have to deal with strange mood swings anymore? That'll be a relief.' Kurama's thoughts eventually quieted and he, too, slept.

When Bekka woke, she was surprised where she found herself. Instead of being held almost like a doll, she was lying on top of a very amused demon. She began to push herself off when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Lifting her face to ask him to let her go, she found herself unable to speak, his lips pressed against hers. Running out of options and air, she pinched him. This caused the kitsune to laugh, breaking their kiss. "Why'd you do that?" he asked playfully. "You started this."

Embarrassed, Bekka was unsure how to respond. She pushed away again, this time he allowed her to go. She tried to get her bearings as she realized the situation was worse than she thought, as her skirt had hiked itself up around her hips. "I started this?"

"Yes, you did." He was still laughing at her as it was obvious she couldn't think straight. Kurama did enjoy the mixture of confusion and embarrassment on her face. He drew himself up sitting, bending over to look into her eyes. "Admit it, you liked it." Her blush deepened as she dropped her eyes to the bed. Deciding the girl had been teased enough for now, Kurama got off the bed and left the room, chuckling and looking pleased with himself.

Since he had not indicated that she was to follow directly, Bekka took a few moments to compose herself, brushing her hair as she did so. 'Gods and angels,' she thought, 'what am I doing in my sleep? "Admit it, you liked it"?...of all the arrogant, self-assured…Damn it all, what did I do in my sleep?' Not feeling that she could delay any longer, she put down the brush with a deep sigh.

"You will teach me this," Kurama said as she entered the living area, in a voice somewhere between a command and a request.

Bekka looked at the chess set he'd indicated where he'd also scattered pieces around the board, recreating her final set up from the night before. "Sure," she replied. "It doesn't take long to learn the basics of the game." She was glad he had given her something to think about.

He looked at her, noting that she was more composed with approval, and asked, "What do you mean, 'the basics'?"

Bekka smiled without humor, "I can teach you how the board is set to begin the game, all the allowed moves and attacks, and how to end the game in one short teaching game. It takes years to master the game, though."

"Have you mastered it?"

Shaking her head, Bekka replied, "No, I'm about at an intermediate level. I knew a guy who was a master before I started traveling. He said I had potential, but he moved away and I didn't know anyone else who played as well or better than I did. It's hard to improve skills without a challenge." She sat and began sorting the pieces, explaining as she did. "White goes first. Normally, one pawn of each color is palmed by one of the players and the other player selects their color that way, but in a teaching game, the teacher is always white. These," she indicated the smallest pieces, "are pawns…" Bekka continued setting out the pieces, explaining their allowed moves and attacks. She then began the game, using a simple straight forward strategy. She was surprised, however, when Kurama seemed to use techniques that a beginner shouldn't have known. Changing tactics, she tried to throw him. He faltered, his king being checked a couple of times, but rallied to catch her by surprise in a checkmate.

Bekka stared at the board in amazement. "Are you sure you've never played before?" she asked, her voice baffled and amazed.

"No, never," he replied. He didn't think the game had been that difficult. It was a strategy game, and he had noticed that she'd changed tactics part way through, for which he was glad, or the game would have been a lot shorter.

"Absolutely amazing," she breathed, getting excited about the prospect of a worthy opponent. "Wanna play another game before we get to training, please?"

Kurama was baffled by this enigmatic child across the table from him. "You're happy about being beaten?"

"Yes," Bekka responded happily. "The last time I was challenged at a game of chess was the last game I played with that guy I told you about. I've only played teaching games, when I've had anyone to play with, or by myself since then." She clapped her hands together in excess of excitement, "I've never seen anyone learn so quickly."

Kurama allowed himself to feel flattered at the girl's delight and appreciation of his skills. "After training, we can play again."

Bekka's face faulted slightly, but she managed to continue smiling. As much as she wanted to play, she also wanted to learn. "Okay," she said, then, winking, added, "I'll take that as a promise."

"Do you ever make sense?" Kurama wondered out loud.

"Eventually," she replied.

Shaking his head, Kurama rose from the table, flicking his tail for her to follow him. They returned to the dojo room. Kurama walked to the center of the room, withdrawing a red candle from somewhere in his clothing as he sat on the floor. Bekka knelt on the floor in front of him, curious as to what came next.

"Before we leave here, you will be able to light this candle," Kurama said. Bekka nodded. "First, do you remember what you did to summon fire before?"

Bekka thought back. She could barely remember what happened, but she did remember being very angry. She didn't remember doing anything other than yelling at Loki. She didn't remember thinking anything. It just happened. "No," she replied. "I remember being angry at Loki."

"How did you stop the fire, then?" he asked, trying to get around having to irritate her, trying to find a more reliable controlled way of summoning fire.

"It just seemed the right thing, that if I damped down on how I felt, the fire would stop." Bekka wasn't entirely sure why it seemed the right thing, though.

"Well, at least you have some instincts for this," he sighed. It'd been a long time since he'd trained, and though he'd wracked his brain, he couldn't remember much. He decided to try one of the few things he did remember before he started trying to anger her. "Okay, I want you to think about fire, think about the flame. Imagine it filling your body." He watched as she closed her eyes, concentrating. Her breathing slowed and he began to see a flicker of red aura around her. It was then he realized that she hadn't had one before. Curious, he watched. The aura wasn't particularly strong or focused. "Focus on the way the fire looks, how it feels. Make it real in your mind." Her aura began to strengthen, but it wasn't the same type of aura he saw around other demons or even the occasional human that found their way to the Makai as slaves. "Bring the fire to the tip of your finger." He watched as the aura flared around her, but it didn't move to her finger. "Concentrate, Bekka." Her aura dimmed and flared rapidly as her face began to show strain. He tried to get her to tighten the focus again, "Hold out your hand, palm up. Put the fire in your hand." The aura began to coalesce in her hand, briefly, before it flared out of control and there were several small fires around the dojo. "Put them out!" Kurama cried out, busy with the couple of flames that had landed on him.

Bekka's eyes flew open, horrified as she saw what she'd done. Quickly, she began trying to damp down on the fire, which succeeded in putting out some of the fires. She tried to pat out the flames within her reach and ended up scorching her fingers. Yelping, she stuck them in her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Kurama shot at her when he saw her trying to use her hands and burning them.

"I'm sorry," she said, around her fingers, tears in her eyes from the pain.

"Enough!" Something in Kurama snapped. Getting to his hands and knees, he advanced on the trembling girl fiercely. "I have had enough of your apologizing. I have had enough of this whole stupidity. I never asked for any of this. I never wanted anyone living with me. I never wanted to train anyone to do anything. I was quite happy with my life before you arrived. I was quite content with the way things were going for me."

Bekka retreated from the angry demon before her, truly afraid of him for the first time. Kurama continued, almost oblivious to the girl's fear, his need to vent his feelings overriding his normally rational behavior. "I have done everything I can think of to make you comfortable. I have indulged your ridiculous little whims. I put up with your insane mood swings." Bekka hit the wall behind her and could not retreat anymore. Kurama was inches from her face, demanding, "What more do you want from me?"

Trembling, Bekka shook her head, "Nothing, nothing, I'll leave. I'm sorry, I'll leave."

Kurama's fist made contact with the wall next to Bekka. "You cannot leave, idiot. You wouldn't survive. Actually, yes, you would. You're not permitted to die." Pulling back his fist, he sat back on his fists, "Go, leave."

Stunned, Bekka scrambled away, getting to her feet and ran from the room. She went to the living area to grab her chess board and then went to the bed room to grab her clothing. She was tying the bag when Kurama entered the room. She had been so distracted that she didn't hear him. "What are you doing?" he asked as she shouldered her bag, picking up her violin at the same time.

"Leaving. You told me to. I am allowed to take my things, aren't I?" Bekka was unsure what to do, what had set him off.

Kurama walked over to her, taking the bag from her and dropping it where it had previously sat, "You are not leaving." Bekka looked confused and there was hurt lurking in her eyes. "The Makai is not kind to humans. If you leave, you'll be taken as a slave if you're not just tortured for fun." He rested his hand on her cheek. "It's not your fault you're here. I hate being trapped."

Bekka felt some of her courage returning, although feebly. Quietly, she said, "The only difference between a trap and a game is that a game has to have at least one way to escape. Loki plays games. There is a way out of this stupidity. He always gives clues. I do know how you feel though. I feel the same way. That's why I lash out at Loki, as a way of venting my frustrations with being stuck in this game."

"How will you get out of the game?" he asked.

She shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't played enough to figure out the endgame."

Taking the violin from her hand and setting on the bed gently, he took her hand, "Let's go play our parts, then, so you can figure out your endgame."

Bekka followed, remembering something he had yelled at her, "I'm not permitted to die?" she asked.

Kurama stopped, "Didn't you know?"

"No, I didn't," she replied, confused. "I've been pretty badly hurt before, but I just thought I wasn't hurt bad enough to die. But if I can't die, then I should have died a couple of times already. Would figure he'd make me suffer stuff like that."

"Like what?" he was unsure if he really wanted to know, but he sensed talking helped calm her.

"Well, I was stoned once for being a witch. That hurt a lot." Seeing his confusion, she explained, "Stoning is when the witch, me, has her hands and feet tied together, is tossed over a cliff and has a bunch of rocks dropped on her from the top of the cliff. I think nearly every bone in my body was broken, then. People don't survive being stoned, but I did. One of my patients came by and took me home. I had been teaching her some herbology, so she knew how to make pain killers and disinfectants. I think she took care of me for almost six months before I could manage to leave her house at all. I taught her everything I knew about herbology while I was recovering, so she said it was a fair trade."

"Wouldn't they try stoning her, too?" he asked, amazed at what humans would do to each other, both harmful and helpful.

"No, they took my living as a 'sign from God' that I wasn't a witch and permitted me and my students to practice."

"Students?"

"She had a house mate. I taught them both." She was hedging, he could tell, but decided to let it go.

"Let's get to your teaching."

She smiled at him, balance restored in her mind and, she could feel, in his.

They returned to the dojo, to the same positions they had originally occupied. "Let's try with you concentrating on creating fire in your hand instead your whole body this time," Kurama suggested. Bekka began chewing on her lip, raising her right hand palm up and thinking of fire in her hand. Kurama noticed the aura again flaring, concentrating in her hand seconds before a flicker of flame appeared. "Make it stronger, keep it there," he encouraged. She focused, watching the small tongue of flame grow into a small ball of flames. She smiled slightly, her lower lip still caught in her teeth. "Now, move it to the candle." He watched as she concentrated, trying to figure out how to move the flame from her hand to the candle. She reached out with her left hand to grab the candle when Kurama said, "Not that way. Make the flame move." She thought hard, Kurama could see the effect on her aura. Slowly, it reached out toward the wick and the flame followed hesitantly, finally lighting the candle. Kurama smiled at the girl, "Very good." He blew out the candle, "Do it again." Wrinkling her nose at him, she concentrated again. The aura and fire moved a little more confidently. Kurama again blew out the candle, over and over, they repeated the series, lighting the candle, blowing it out, until Bekka had enough. Kurama tried to blow out the candle and was a little surprised when it would not be extinguished. He looked more closely at the flame and could see a red aura around it. He looked at Bekka. She had released the fire from her hand and was looking at him.

"I don't want to relight it. It stays lit," she declared.

He gave a small laugh, "Good, you figured out the next step." She blinked at him, surprised. He took advantage of her slip in concentration to blow out the candle again. He was stunned when it flared up right afterwards. "You're a quick study," he admitted.

She smiled, "Yes, I've been told that before. Can we play chess now?"

He laughed in earnest at her eagerness to play the game. "Fine, but only if you cook dinner."

It was then Bekka realized she was very hungry. They had been playing with the candle for hours. She could suddenly feel the fatigue wash over her. "How about you cook dinner, I'll make breakfast and play you in the morning?"

"Feeling tired?" he asked, amused.

"Yes, very." She yawned, and then looked at him seriously, "Next time you need to blow off steam, could you just attack me physically. I deal with that a lot better than being yelled at. I don't care if you take out your anger on me, but I'd rather fight than be ordered to leave, please."

He gazed at her, considering her words. Nodding, he stood and pulled her up and into a hug, "I will try to remember that," he told her, looking down into her eyes.

She returned his hug, "I promise not to have anymore really insane mood swings. I can't promise not to have mood swings, but they won't be so insane. And you don't have to indulge my ridiculous whims. You don't have to listen to me play or sing and you don't have to play chess if you don't want to."

"I like hearing you play and sing," he assured her, liking the feel of her arms around his waist. "Chess is interesting. I don't mind playing."

She tightened her arms around him briefly before letting him go, "Thank you."

A/N Okay, this chapter ends here because I just drew a complete blank on where to go next…I thought this chapter was going to begin the second version of the story, but Youko and George behaved enough to remain PG-13…I'm really amazed. I got five reviews for the last chapter (yay! Thank you) at the time I'm writing this note. I'm also online so I can reply to each note :D (be afraid :D ) Kiraditz-I think my stories run to the stupid side, but I have a very demanding muse who insists that I write. I actually get embarrassed when people I know in person read my writing….my friends get irritated with me because I tend to talk down my writing…and yet I post it for strangers to read…

Sroa Dwin-I don't know about Korean staff techniques…they weren't discussed on that show…I thought it was really interesting :D A lot of creative people will have fire as their element. Kitsune Kit-you should love this too, ne? Kayrana, I could help you figure out your element…feel free to e-mail me…I have to ask a couple of strange questions…and wind isn't a bad element, but the wind people I've known are a bit flakey because wind isn't grounded, but they're good at thinking fast when they need to…fire people tend to have tempers…water people tend to be too kind hearted for their own good at times…and earth people can be flat out dull…all the elements have good and bad sides. And, last but not least (actually, the first review, but the way my e-mail works, it's on the bottom of the stack) My Shadow friend (or is it fiend?) Thank you for reviewing and reading and encouraging people to come see me :D Yes, I suppose it's good for Bekka that Youko likes hugs so much, na-ja? Well, I hope this is soon enough for y'all…Please keep leaving reviews…I really like them :D


	5. Chapter 5

Bekka woke with a start. Casting about, she tried to figure out what had caused her to wake so suddenly and completely. She became aware of her surroundings to find that she was alone in the bed. Sitting up confused, she looked around the room. Kurama was nowhere to be seen. She also became aware of the silence in her mind. Some part of her brain informed her that she'd only been asleep for a couple of hours, but it wouldn't tell her why she was wide awake. Getting out of bed, she began to wander through the caves. In the bathing room, she looked at her reflection in the pool, demanding of it, "Why are you awake?" but no answer came…not that she expected one, but it would have been nice. Wandering back through the bedroom, she picked up her violin on her way to the living area. She set her violin on the table and continued to wander around, trying to find whatever woke her. Nothing in the living area, kitchen or dojo gave her a clue as to her alertness. Sighing in disgust at herself, she took out her violin and began to play, getting lost in the music.

When he returned a short time later, Kurama was surprised to hear music. He stood in the doorway of the living area, watching Bekka as she played. She appeared completely unaware of anything outside the music, her eyes half-lidded, her lips parted. The song she played seemed to sneak about and then laughed at itself, dancing in a merry chase across the strings. Bekka's body swayed with the music, caught in the dance. It was almost as potent as physical release when the song ended with staccato bursts of sound. She was suspended for a moment before relaxing, letting the violin drop from her shoulder, and smiling at Kurama.

"You're awake," he stated, realizing that was not only obvious but not the most intelligent thing to say.

"Yes," she replied, grinning at his discomfiture. Shrugging, she continued, "I just woke up all of the sudden. I couldn't find any reason for it, so I thought I'd play for awhile." Bringing the violin back to her shoulder, "I was going to play one more song, if you'd like to listen." She gestured to his chair with her bow, waiting to see what he'd do.

Kurama was curious to hear what else she could do with her music. He moved gracefully across the room, watching her as she sat. This time, the song she drew from the strings was darkly seductive, pleading, needy, pulling him into its spell. Portions of it were demanding, compelling, ordering him to soar to their peaks. The end was softly plaintive and faded gently into silence. He was still caught in the spell of the music as she put her violin into its case and left the room. Reluctantly, he shook off the lethargy to find the girl. She was lying quietly on the bed, eyes open, watching him.

"Girl, what was that?" he asked, unsure how he felt about being left in such an unfamiliar state.

"Girl?" she asked. "That was the Music of the Night. Did you like it?"

"What did you do?" he wanted to know why the music affected him so much.

Bekka propped her head up on her hand and regarded him for a moment. She knew he was disquieted. She had seen other people dazed from listening to skilled playing, had even been there herself, but knew that a simple 'You got caught up in the music," would not be sufficient as an answer. Speaking slowly, gathering her thoughts, she began, "There's a saying about music soothing the savage beast. It can calm a large crowd of people or whip them into a frenzy. Music communicates to the deepest parts of the mind. That's what makes it powerful and universal." She could feel the questions forming in his mind and tried to answer them. "You weren't affected so strongly the first time I played for you because I was playing a lullaby. The intensity of being drawn into music does diminish in time, with exposure." She yawned, "Part of your reaction maybe related to the fact that that's one of my favorite songs so I play it a bit more intensely. I'll sing it for you some time." She put her head back down and closed her eyes, finishing, "Just not right this minute. Good night."

As he got into bed, he wondered what effect the words would have. '"Music of the Night" is it? The way it sounded, I doubt it refers to insects or other nocturnal sounds.'

"It's not," a sleepy mutter issued from the girl.

"Aren't you asleep?" Kurama asked, amused, pulling her closer to his chest.

"Mostly," she answered, slurred.

"What is the song about then?" he asked, wondering what answer he'd get.

"'sbout how music seduces th' sense, 'sucres th' truth," her voice faded and her words were difficult to understand.

"And this is one of your favorites?" He received no answer. Chuckling, he snuggled Bekka closer and allowed himself to drift off.

Bekka woke slowly, reluctant to leave behind her dreams. It didn't help that Kurama was playing with her hair, as well. She gradually became more aware of her environment-that she was laying on her stomach. That she was on the bed quickly followed. She was relieved at that. Eventually, she was able to coordinate her thoughts and body enough to turn her head and ask the kitsune, "Are you going to let me wake up?"

Kurama considered her request while running his fingers along her scalp and down her back. Lifting his hand, he watched the red strands fall gently back in place. "Alright, then," he said. "Wake up. Go fix breakfast, too."

Bekka stretched, yawning, and pushed herself back onto her heels. "Yeah, that," she muttered, rubbing her face before climbing off the bed. She couldn't get her mind to focus. She pinched her ears savagely, muttering, "Wake up already."

Kurama, seeing the girl's antics, decided to help her. "Bekka!" he yelled while leaping off the bed. She turned, her eyes widening as she realized he was attacking her. Reacting instinctively, Bekka ducked the attack, dodged to the side, and dropped to a defensive crouch. She stood there, suddenly alert, watching him. Every line of his body showed he was pleased with himself. "Awake now?"

Bekka was torn between laughter and the desire to yell at the kitsune. She settled on a dirty look and a sour "Thanks" before a giggle escaped her. She stood up and walked out of the room trying to stifle her laughter and shaking her head. Whatever had snapped yesterday seemed to clear the worst of the tension between the two. She didn't understand it, but knew he felt more relaxed around her, too. She entered the kitchen and began gathering an assortment of fruits and vegetables she recognized and arranged them in a bowl, thinking to herself about the plants she would like to have access to, if they were available. 'I wonder if he knows where there's a willow tree around here, or some wild cherry. It would be nice to have some dried herbs for teas. I should ask if he'd mind me setting up a small pharmacopeia.'

These thoughts were driven out of her head as she set the bowl on the table and Kurama asked, "So, when are you going to sing about music seducing the senses?"

"Huh?" was the intelligent reply, grey eyes blinking in confusion.

"You said that was what Music of the Night was about," he replied, enjoying the girl's confusion, though he didn't understand it.

Recovering her wits somewhat, Bekka replied, "I talk in my sleep. What I say is the truth, but I don't remember the conversation." She blushed.

"That could be dangerous," he remarked dryly, half joking.

"It has been, several times." She sat, picking up a piece of fruit, "Starting when my brother and sister figured it out. They're twins, and for a while we had to share a room. They'd wake up a lot earlier than I did. One day, I guess I started responding to their conversations. They soon figured out I didn't remember, so they'd make stuff up and claim I'd said it." She made a face, then shook her head as if to clear it. "So, what else did I say?"

"Nothing," he replied, wondering what he could find out from her in her sleep. He grinned at her when she narrowed her eyes at him. "So, when will you sing for me?"

Bekka sighed. 'This isn't going to be easy,' she thought, knowing how the words would probably affect the sensual kitsune. "I'll sing now on one condition," she answered. Kurama's eyebrows went up and his ears flicked in curiosity. "Swear you will stay in your chair until I go into the dojo."

"Why?" he asked, becoming more intrigued.

"Because if you don't, I won't sing," was the firm response.

"And you expect me to keep my promise?" She was really quite amusing.

"Yes, I do expect that. Because of things you've said. That's what I expect." She was feeling nervous. 'This isn't a good idea.' She began chewing on her lower lip.

Kurama, seeing her agitated gesture, relented, "Okay, I swear I will remain in my chair until you enter the dojo."

Running her suddenly clammy hands down her skirt, Bekka stood and walked to the center of the room, staring at the floor. Taking a couple deep breaths, she began getting in the right frame of mind to sing, which was difficult. He had promised, but she still had butterflies in her stomach. With one last breath, she set herself, brought her head up and began to sing, "Night-time sharpens, heightens each sensation…Darkness stirs and wakes imagination…Silently the senses abandon their defenses." She hummed the bridge, beginning to be caught up in the song.

"Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendour…grasp it, sense it…tremulous and tender…turn your face away from the garish light of day, turn your thoughts away from the cold unfeeling light and listen to the music of the night." Her hands found their way up her neck and into her hair, acting as if they belonged to some ghostly lover. All Bekka was aware of at the moment was the music. All Kurama could do was stare, entranced.

"Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams! Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before! Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar! And you'll live as you've never lived before…

"Softly, deftly, music shall surround you…feel it, hear it, closing in around you…open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind, in this darkness you know you cannot fight-the darkness of the music of the night…" Kurama was beyond thought, enchanted by the way Bekka sang, how she moved, as if she were trying to seduce herself. Her eyes had darkened to blue as she looked at him and continued to sing.

"Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world! Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before! Let your soul take you where you long to be!" her voice soared, then, quietly, "Only then can you belong to me.

"Floating, falling, sweet intoxication! Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation! Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write-the power of the music of the night…" She allowed the note to fade before running out of the room and into the bathroom. She fell to her knees, trembling violently. She hadn't been so strongly affected by the song before. It was extremely disconcerting. It didn't help that she was also experiencing Kurama's reactions as well.

Managing to get her shaking under control, Bekka gathered clean clothes and began to take a bath. She knew Kurama wanted to come after her, to embrace her, but he remained in his seat. She couldn't deal with that just now and was grateful he was keeping his word. Slowly, she washed her hair, taking her time to allow both of them to find a sense of balance again. It wasn't so much that she didn't want his attention, but more that she wasn't prepared to cope with it yet. And she wasn't entirely sure she would maintain the boundaries she needed for her own self respect.

Kurama was baffled by the girl. She could sing and move in such a sensual manner and yet she avoided fulfillment of the desires she obviously had. What was it about humans that they denied themselves what they wanted and needed? Why did she deny him the opportunity to fulfill her needs…his own needs? He could hear her taking a bath. He also knew that she would be paying attention to his thoughts in her mind and would know if he were to leave his chair. He had made a promise, and if she were unwilling, then he would keep it. She could tell him if she had changed her mind. Damn the girl. Damn him for pressing her into it. He sighed, slowly bringing his emotions and reactions back under control.

Bekka felt Kurama's mind calming. She wondered if she could explain the oddities of human sexual behavior to an uninhibited demon. She wondered if she could explain it to herself. All she was sure of was that she was not prepared to cope with him on that level. There was something in the back of her mind, holding her back. She almost could regret playing the song the night before, singing it this morning…almost, but not quite. She loved the song, loved the play, wished she could see it again. Sighing, she rinsed her hair out, and got out of the pool.

Kurama sat quietly, waiting. He heard her leave the water, he could almost see her in his mind's eye, drying herself. Shaking his head, he tried to clear the enticing image. For some reason, she was reluctant. He would wait. She would be willing, eventually, and then he could show her what she had been missing. He was confident of his skills, both in seduction and in pleasuring. Sighing, he relaxed in the chair. Eventually, he thought.

'Eventually?' Bekka repeated the thought in her own mind. 'Pretty confident, isn't he?' Shaking her head as she blotted her hair, she wondered if he really was as good as he thought he was. 'Stop that! Those kinds of thoughts will get you in trouble, girl. He called you "girl," girl. Wonder what he meant by that? Why are we trying to analyze the mind of a sex-crazed demon. Why are we talking to ourselves in the plural?' "Gods," she muttered aloud. Putting down the towel, she began dressing in the purple and lavender shirt and skirt. 'I really wish I had a pair of pants. I'd be more comfortable in those. Damn Loki for making me dress all girlie.' Sighing, she decided with that thought that she was prepared to face Kurama. She left the bathroom and headed to the dojo.

Bekka was standing in the center of the room when Kurama entered. "Why did you run out?" he wanted to try to understand her mind.

Locking her hands behind her back, Bekka responded, "I was experiencing both our reactions to the song. I've only ever been on one side or the other. It was overwhelming."

"Why not just act on your feelings?"

"I didn't want to do anything I'd regret."

"Regret? You'd regret fulfilling your needs?"

'Damn it, why do I have to be the one to explain this? I don't understand it!' "Not so much that, but…" her voice trailed off and her expression showed frustration. "It's really difficult to explain, I don't fully understand it myself, but I know that I'm not ready to cope with you on that level yet." Unsatisfied with her own answer, she brought her hands up to her temples, "It's not that I don't like your or don't find you attractive, because I do, but….but…I just am not prepared to cope with you on that level yet."

"That doesn't make a lot of sense," Kurama stated flatly.

"I know it doesn't," Bekka wailed, "but I don't have a better answer. I've been trying to figure one out, I really have, but the only thing I can say is that I'm not prepared to cope with that…with sex…just yet."

"Do you want to?"

"Yes…no….yes…no…I don't know…please don't ask me just now. Can we just work on training or something….please!" Bekka was so confused she doubted she could remember the steps to conjure fire, or even how to hold a violin, at this point.

Kurama walked over to the girl, placing his hands over hers, drawing them gently out of her hair, where they had fisted. He squeezed the hands gently, waiting for her to look up at him. "Bekka," he began tenderly, "first, relax. I told you, and I meant it, that I won't do anything until you're willing. I won't have a partner be unwilling. I don't understand what there would be to regret. I don't understand your denial of your needs and desires, but I will not force myself on you. Yes, I find you attractive. Yes, I would like to have you as a partner." Bekka blushed at his directness and he smiled at her, "Don't humans talk about sex?"

"Not this directly, of honestly. Most people can't even bring themselves to say the word 'sex,' much less talk about it. My mother barely managed to tell me about birth control or the changes my body went through during puberty. She would swallow words and those that she didn't swallow were barely loud enough to hear. She couldn't look at me while talking, either. I ended up finding a few books in the library to get the information she'd tried to give me."

While he didn't quite understand all the words, he understood what she was saying. "How strange. Sex is a natural part of life. In the Makai, children learn about it almost from the time they are born. Are all humans like you and your mother?"

"Some more, some less, but most people have trouble talking about sex….it's considered a taboo, forbidden subject. Sometimes, I'm amazed people manage to reproduce at all." She gave him a wry grin. "You'd be amazed at the number of hang ups we humans have about sex."

He ran a finger across her cheek, pushing her hair behind her ear. "Well, at least you don't swallow the word," he replied wryly.

"I'm not my mother. She and I are very different people. I don't think you'd like her. I know she wouldn't like you. There were times I was convinced I had to be adopted because I'm so different from my parents and my siblings, but my oma assured me that I wasn't and that I took after her." Bekka smiled, "Shall we begin doing something useful?"

"Define useful," Kurama challenged, playfully.

"Training," she returned.

A/N Okay…I admit a weird chapter…but, I had to…blame the muse. I think I'll go in order (yeah, right) with my notes…The music…the first song, at least in my mind, was Hungarian Dance Number 5…Music of the Night is the most sensual song I've heard…I've had it sung to me by a guy with an awesome voice (he was cute too…)…I think I would have done just about anything he'd asked me to…sigh…there's a lot to be said about a guy who can sing well! Why the big sex talk? Ummm…in case we're not reading/writing the same story…Kitsune like sex…they're known for seducing people…Bekka just lost her husband and child and doesn't want to get pregnant again…The pharmacopeia will come up again…I just need to do more research first to make sure I get the right plants…

Reviews :D I got six for the last chapter :D Yay…please, keep them up…I really really like them :D

Kayrana: Thanks for keeping reading…just in case for some odd reason you can't see my e mail address it's I don't mind if others write too…I like feed back and I like writing people :D

American Filipina: I'm really glad you like my story. I know I have a couple of errors that I missed, but I plan on fixing them all at once when I get to the last chapter and doing one single massive correction upload/update thing…Also, I'm posting this thing as fast as I write it, really I am…my muse makes me…he won't show me what's next if I don't update…and he teases me with scenes later in the story just to make me write…evil muse

Rokosho-13: Read Gravitation much? That's the only place I've read that particular phrasing…I had to have the mood swings…I'm glad you like it

Kitsune Kit: I'm glad you like it…hope you continue to do so :D

Shadow: If you're an angel then I'm Edgar Allen Poe :D Yeah, I know what Youko needs…So does George…is he gonna get it? Couldn't tell you…George isn't telling me yet…grrr

Sroa Dwin: Isn't it silly that we get embarrassed? Thanks for the compliment/encouragement :D

To the rest: Thanks for reading…I'd like to know what you think…now off to do research and catch up on my own personal reading…:D


	6. Chapter 6

A week went by before Bekka remembered that she wanted to ask about setting up a pharmacopeia. The week had been busy, full of training and sparring, usually causing the girl to fall asleep as soon as she fell into bed. Kurama's teasing had kept her on her toes mentally, as well, giving her little time to think when he was around. She was lying on her back on the bed, alone since Kurama had gone to the village when she began to think. She did not want to be forced to make another difficult decision and began thinking about herbs that would prevent pregnancy. 'Well, there's Queen Anne's lace seeds, but those have to be taken every day and that's a lot of seeds. Tansy could work, but it's too toxic to take for a long time. I know there are things that are supposed to be permanent.' Biting her lip, she racked her brain, 'umm….thistle? Yes, but which kind and how much? Stoneseed root? That takes six months to work, though and I couldn't take anything else while taking it. Argh!' she brought her hands up to her head in frustration, 'What's that other thing? Oh, yeah, Jack-in-the-pulpit! And I could use it for headaches and antiseptic, too.' Satisfied with her solution, she relaxed into the bed. She became aware of Kurama's return, 'Have I been thinking that long?'

Kurama slid into bed next to the girl, draping an arm across her stomach. Though her eyes were closed, he knew, "You're awake?"

Opening her eyes, Bekka sighed, "I was thinking."

He pulled her closer, snuggling, "Hmm….about what?"

"I'd like to start a pharmacopeia," she answered.

He pulled his head back to look at her, ears twitching at the unfamiliar word, "What's that?"

"It's a collection of herbs and mixtures used as medicines. I don't need very much for myself, but I'd like to have them available, please."

"What do you want to have?" he asked, curious about ningen medicine.

Bekka frowned a moment, organizing her thoughts, "Willow bark, wild cherry bark, mint, parsley, Jack-in-the-pulpit, chamomile, jasmine"

"And those are for?" Kurama propped his head on his hand, enjoying the information.

Bekka wrinkled her nose before launching into what she thought of as lecture mode. "Willow bark is a general pain reliever. Wild cherry bark is a cough suppressant and can be added to willow bark to make it taste not so bitter. They're both taken as infusions. Mint is good for digestion and can be taken fresh or dried in an infusion. Parsley is good for digestion and helps prevent infection. It is usually eaten fresh, but can be eaten dried or added to other foods. Jack-in-the-pulpit is an antiseptic when the leaves are applied to the skin or a headache remedy when the leaves are dried and infused." She blushed slightly, catching the kitsune's attention. Trying to ignore the warmth in her face, she continued, "Chamomile is calming and jasmine is balancing. For both, the flowers are dried and infused."

"What else is Jack-in-the-pulpit used for?" he knew she was leaving something out.

"Well…" she tried to hedge, but knew he would not give up until she answered. Taking a deep breath, she explained, "When the roots are prepared properly, they supposedly induce permanent sterility in a single does with minimal side effects."

'Permanent…?' "Why?" What was going on in her head?

Sighing, looking away from him, "I cannot be forced to decide between two lives again. I can't deal with it again. I won't allow it to happen again. I see my options as complete celibacy or permanent sterilization." She began biting her lip.

"Is it effective? Have you used it before?" His mind was baffled, he just didn't understand her. "Can't you just control whether you get pregnant or not?"

Frowning, she glanced at him briefly. "In reverse order: No, human women cannot control whether they get pregnant or not. I've prepared it once before. My oma had a patient who had miscarried six times in five years. She got pregnant easily, but she couldn't keep a baby. She'd tried everything. Her regular doctor wouldn't do anything to help her and she was desperate and depressed. Last I heard, she'd gone a full year without getting pregnant and was much happier."

Kurama cupped Bekka's cheek, waiting for her to look at him, "We'll go out tomorrow and find what you need." He kissed her lightly on the lips, "Go to sleep, Bekka." Turning her so she was on her side, back to his chest, he nuzzled her head, "Good night."

He felt the girl relax, seeming relieved at his acceptance of her requests. Just when he thought he was beginning to understand ningens, something else would come up. Sighing, he drifted to sleep.

Bekka woke to a sharp pain in her side. It receded briefly and came again. Swatting at the pain, she mutter, "Stop it," not ready to wake up yet. 'Why does he have to pinch me?'

"Wake up or I'll start tickling you," was the amused reply.

"Do that and I'll bite you," she growled.

"Promise?" he asked, running his fingers up her side, causing her to jump.

In response, she grabbed his hand, brought to her mouth and bit on his fingers. She was mildly annoyed that he laughed at her. Sighing, she let go and rolled away from the playful kitsune, managing to roll off the bed at the same time. "Why are you waking me up so early?"

"We have to go out. You need to change, though. Your skirt, while very lovely, will not be suitable for wandering around in the forest."

"I don't have anything else. You know that. If I did, I'd be wearing it. I hate having to fight in skirts."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" he laughed as he got out of bed. He approached a wall that was covered in vines. Looking at her critically, he turned to the vines, rummaging through them, and brought out a bundle of fabric and leather. "Oh, I wouldn't recommend you try that, they're a little on the possessive side," he warned her as he crossed the room to hand her the stack.

Bekka nodded, examining the clothes he handed her. The leather turned out to be a pair of pants that looked to be the right size for her. The fabric was a shirt of the softest silk she'd ever felt. Both were brownish in color, the pants darker than the shirt. "Thank you," she said, following up with a wry, "Do I even want to know where you got them?"

Kurama laughed, "I liberated them a couple of days ago. I thought you'd look cute in them."

"'Liberated'?" she asked, catching the meaning from his mind. He'd stolen them. Shaking her head, she stood and went to the bathroom, "Well, I suppose we should see if you were correct or if your efforts were wasted." 'Geesh, a thief? What next, Loki?' Turning around, looking at the kitsune who'd been following her, "I have to learn that too, don't I?" she asked.

Kurama looked surprised at her sudden question. "I was told you need to, yes."

Sighing in disgust, "I really hate Loki, you know." She turned and resumed her trek to the bathroom, leaving the confused demon standing in the bed room.

"She's quick," Loki's voice sounded in his head.

Kurama's ears plastered themselves back against his skull. "What do you want? She'll know you're here," he thought viciously at the god

"I wanted to tell you that Oberon was coming to see you two today. She won't know I'm here unless you tell her. I'm blocking her so I could warn you. She's never met Oberon before, and he doesn't want her to be expecting her, but he wanted to see her for some reason. He wouldn't tell me," this last sentence was almost a pout.

"Don't you know everything?" Kurama thought sarcastically.

"Only when it comes to what's in your lesser minds. I can't read another god's mind."

Kurama bristled at being called "lesser" but he could feel that the god had left him so a reply would be wasted. Shaking his head and blowing out a breath, he composed himself to enter the bathing room. Bekka was already in the pool and he stood a moment, watching her as she ducked under the water to wet her hair. He enjoyed the play of her red hair against the pale skin of her back. He continued watching her as she washed her hair, running her fingers through the strands and massaging her scalp. She knew he was watching her and started blushing. Kurama smiled at the color that spread across the girl's body. He liked that he could see her blush spread over her body. He had asked her if this was normal the first time he'd seen her blush naked, and she said it was because of her fair skin and red hair. Most people didn't blush all over. Bekka ducked under the water to rinse her hair out, trying to control her reactions to his enjoyment of her body. When she came up out of the water, Kurama was holding a towel out, waiting for her to step out of the pool. Squeezing her hair out and trying not to blush again, she walked into the towel.

After a lot more teasing and blushing, Bekka was finally dressed. Just before they were to leave the cave, for the first time for Bekka, Kurama handed her a knife. Glancing at him curiously, she unsheathed it, looking intently at the blade. About four inches long, it was a simple tool, the handle fitting nicely in her hand. "Why?" she asked.

"You're going to harvest things, aren't you?" Kurama really wondered about the girl at times. Sometimes, she'd make remarkable leaps in logic, other times she couldn't seem to connect two things together at all.

Sheathing the knife, smiling, "Aren't you worried I'll use it on you?"

"You should be more worried about me using on you," he grinned, thinking about how useful a knife would be in removing her clothing.

Bekka blushed. "How far are we going?" she asked, changing the subject.

Kurama shrugged, "A couple of hours away to get what you want."

"Lead on, then," she bowed.

Kurama tweaked the girl's hair as he walked past her and out of the caves. He heard the gasp of surprise, turning to see Bekka looking around her, eyes wide. "It's so different," she breathed. He looked around. Nothing seemed odd to him. There were the plants that guarded his den, the magenta sky with its frequent forks of yellow lightning, the wind that carried the scent of plants and death on it. He saw nothing different as his eyes returned to the girl, who was still looking around in amazement. "In the human world, the sky is blue, lightning isn't that common, the plants are different. This is different from what I'm used to."

"Do you think you'll recognize what you need?" he asked. He really wanted to test her knowledge of identifying plants she claimed to need.

"I think so, but I'll want you to double check me. Some of the ones I want look similar to ones that are deadly. I know the differences in the human world, but if they look too different here, I may not be able to spot the differences."

Kurama turned and walked away from the girl, flicking his tail in approval and a silent command for her to follow. They walked in silence, Bekka looking all round her at the various plants and insects, taking care to follow exactly in Kurama's footsteps since she didn't know which plant or insects could harm her. This amused him and reassured him that she did have some sense.

After a couple of hours of walking, Kurama stopped, gesturing around to the clearing, "You should find everything you need here." He stood aside, waiting for the girl to start.

Bekka glanced at the demon and then looked carefully around the clearing. Pointing to a tree, she asked, "Willow?" Receiving a nod, she continued, "Wild cherry?" Another nod and a flick of the tail. "Okay, I'll start with those." She walked over to the willow tree, walking carefully around it, examining the trunk for the best place to harvest what she needed. Taking bark from the wrong place could allow infection to invade the tree. She was aware of Kurama walking over and watching her, waiting to see what she'd do. Carefully, she removed the knife from its sheath and removed a small portion of bark, whispering "thank you" as she did.

"You thanked the tree?" Kurama asked, surprised.

"Oma taught me to respect the plants I use, even if I can't grow them."

"By all means, continue."

She looked down, noticing a smallish flower at the base of the willow tree. Kneeling, she looked up at him, "This is Jack-in-the-pulpit, isn't it?"

Kurama nodded and watched as the girl began to carefully remove the soil from around the flower's roots. He heard steps coming up behind him and turned to see who was approaching them. A man approaching his height with short dark hair and dark eyes was now in the clearing. His clothing was dark, as well, long pants and a long sleeved tunic. "You don't want that, Bekka."

Bekka whirled, her knife in her hand, facing this newcomer with vicious suspicion, "Who are you?"

"You know who I am, my dear. You don't want that, Bekka. It'll make you very sick and it won't work," he replied, unruffled.

"Why should I believe you? Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"I know a lot about you. You should believe me because I am who I am. You should know me, dear girl. Think for a minute and you will know the answer." He gave her a gentle smile

Bekka's eyes narrowed. Kurama wondered if this was the Oberon Loki told him about. Bekka's narrowed eyes glanced at him. "What do you want with me, Oberon?"

"Only to warn you that what you're planning on doing won't work."

"So, then, what should I do?" she spit out bitterly.

"Come here, child, and I will take care of it."

"Take care of what?" she asked suspiciously.

Oberon sighed, "I'm going to fix your body so that you don't get pregnant any more. You are right, you do not need to go through that situation again and had I been thinking more clearly, you wouldn't have gone through it in the first place. I am sorry, my dear."

Bekka gaped at the man standing before her. "You're sorry?" She couldn't believe her ears. "You're sorry? Why didn't you do anything to stop it, then?"

"Because, my dear, once the game begins, we are not allowed to disrupt the players. You had already started the game the first time you went through the maze. I wasn't permitted to help you in anyway. The game hasn't begun yet now, so I can help you." Oberon was the image of patience, remaining calm during his explanation.

"What are you going to do me?" Bekka asked, some of the anger leaving her frame.

"I will fix it so that you cannot become pregnant ever again."

"How?"

Oberon smiled, "I'm a god. I'm allowed to do things like that in ways you cannot understand."

Bekka was uncertain. Kurama was just watching the two, taking in their interaction. This god seemed slightly different from Loki. He still had the same arrogance, but he didn't deliberately bait the girl into anger. Slowly, she walked over to Oberon, looking ready to bolt at any second. Oberon stood still, waiting for the girl to approach him before placing his hand on her head. Bekka felt a warmth spread throughout her body and a feeling of weight lifting from her. Her eyes grew wide in amazement as she knew beyond any doubt that what he told her was true. She would never have to choose between two lives again.

Oberon smiled at the girl, "Good bye, Bekka, and good luck, my dear." With that, the god turned to Kurama, "You're doing an excellent job of training her. Show her what air feels like, make her learn that." He smiled at the kitsune and vanished from sight.

Bekka stood where she was, turning around only when she heard Kurama laughing. He had suddenly sprouted wings. Her jaw dropped as she took them in. "Come on, Bekka, we're going flying!" he laughed at her surprise and held out his hand toward her.

"Flying? I thought you were a fox, not a butterfly." Heights still made her nervous and she was stalling.

He laughed, "They're a plant, Bekka. Come on." He walked over and took her hand, pushing off the ground as he did.

Bekka grips convulsively at his hand, trying to reach up for a better hold, but he wouldn't cooperate, even slapping her other hand away as she tried to grab his wrist with it. "I hate you, too, you know!" she screamed at him in frustration.

He only laughed at her. "How are you supposed to feel air if you're busy feeling me, girl?"

"Feeling you? You arrogant, self-assured, cocky kitsune!" she screamed.

"I know, I know," he laughed. "Now feel the air, my dear," she wrinkled her nose at his use of Oberon's phrase, but it was a little better than being called girl. She stuck her tongue out at him, ignoring his taunt about that and closed her eyes. She could feel the breeze as they traveled through the sky, caressing her body. She felt free, unhampered by the ground. Flying was an incredible sensation. "Can you summon wind? Can you make it answer your call?" he asked quietly, barely penetrating Bekka's consciousness.

Bekka concentrated on the feeling of the air around her body, trying to amplify that, to call on it the way she did with fire. Kurama watched her aura reappear. It flickered between colors, from red to yellow with shades of orange in between. Finally, it settled on a pale yellow, coalescing in her free hand, where a small funnel cloud formed, weak, unsteady, faltering. She lost the fight to maintain it, however, and it dissipated soon after it formed, leaving the girl exhausted. Kurama could feel her grip on him loosening and pulled her up to his chest. "Good, Bekka," he said simply, holding the girl to his chest. Bekka mumbled something incoherent and fell asleep in his arms.

A/N

Geesh, what a slave driving muse I have! Anyways…Kinda a shot strange chapter, na-ja (for those that wonder, na-ja is loosely based on the German for no and yes…but the one I learned in class ja-ein I just didn't like how it sounded…so I flipped it around :D ). Oh, I did do research on the herbs…all the research said not to use them, though, unless you're working with a certified herbalist and a doctor. Just a little soap box here…I'm all for having fun (read: sex), but, for your own sake, do it safely and responsibly! I'm sure you've all heard the safe sex talks, so I'll skip it here, but don't you ever skip it in real life!

On to review replies :D

Anasazi :D Thanks for the review. As for my signs…I'm Capricorn, but my Chinese sign is that of the Fire Dragon. I've always been drawn to fire…it is how I think, how I feel…I am beginning to explore air and water, though. I actually have trouble working with earth at all…which is kind of odd, given that Capricorn is an earth sign and my moon is in Libra, I think…that's mutable earth, isn't it? Capricorn is fixed earth…I know that much :D Hope you continue to enjoy this little story :D

Kitsune Kit, you've been so patient with me…next chapter, I swear! I already know what's happening…though I can't post the whole chapter here…it'll be edited…aren't I mean? Lol

Kayrana…I find myself having to look at reviews to see if I've reviewed a story…or to remember where I was in a story…I've even reviewed stories I thought I'd reviewed before so I made short comments on the chapter, only to look through the reviews and see that I hadn't said anything else about the story…blush

That's it for now…only three pout…oh, well :D At least my muse let me read an update to a story I've been waiting a couple of months for…that's always nice of him, isn't it? Be kind, leave a note :D See you next chapter, the note of which will tell you how to get the full version of the next chapter…now I need to work on writing it out :D


	7. Chapter 7

The next thing Bekka was aware of was the feel of the bed under her. Frowning, she opened her eyes to see Kurama bending over her. "How long?" she asked groggily.

"A full day," came the reply. Bekka could hear and see that he'd been concerned. "Do you know why?" he asked.

Bekka tried to sit up but was restrained. Sighing, "Oma said it was difficult to learn elements other than the native one." Bekka rubbed her head, "Air is probably the easiest because it's freely moving, like fire, even though fire is grounded and air isn't."

"What does 'grounded' mean?" He thought he knew what the term meant, but it seemed to have a different meaning when she used it.

"Can I sit up, first, please?" Kurama removed his hand from her chest and Bekka pulled herself to sit cross-legged on the bed. "Grounded means that fire has a fixed source, where air doesn't. Freely moving means that air can go anywhere, without restrictions. Fire is slightly restricted since it needs a…ummm…fuel for lack of a better term. Water is more fixed than fire because it has a fixed size, though its shape is free flowing. Earth is fixed, stable, stationary, for the most part. Even when earth does move, which takes a lot of energy, it doesn't move very far."

"Are you going to fall asleep every time you use anything other than fire?" This really wouldn't be good at all.

Bekka frowned a moment. "Probably the first time, maybe a couple of times, since it takes a lot of concentration and energy. Once I get used to them, I should be fine, I think."

"You think?" he echoed, not really liking the sound of that.

"I've never done this before…I don't know." Bekka was at a loss.

In an abrupt mood change, Kurama bounced off the bed. "Get up, we're going out." He walked over to the wall of vines and began looking for something.

"Out?" Bekka echoed as she followed more slowly. She couldn't get anything from his thoughts other than he was pleased with himself and this made her uneasy.

"Yes, Bekka, my dear, out." He withdrew a small wrapped bundle from the closet. "Go, get dressed in that ivory outfit of yours and meet me in the living room." He walked out, his tail swaying in pleasure.

'He's entirely too pleased with himself,' Bekka thought uneasily as she moved to comply. She couldn't read anything from his thoughts that gave her a clue as to what he was planning. 'Damn him learning how to block me from his thoughts!' she huffed, running the brush through her hair. Gusting out a breath, she put her brush down firmly and walked to the living room. Arms akimbo, she demanded, "Why are you so pleased with yourself?"

Kurama looked up from the strip of fabric he'd been fingering, "Because, my dear Bekka, you are going to town with me."

"And that makes you happy?" she asked, incredulous.

"Yes, because you have to wear this," he held up the strip of fabric he'd been fingering. It was a narrow band with elaborate designs running along its length.

"And that is what, exactly?"

Kurama grinned, knowing by her questions that he was learning to block her from his thoughts, "A ward."

"And it does what exactly?" Bekka was beginning to get annoyed.

Though he knew baiting her was probably not the best idea, it was fun. "Generally, wards…"

"Not generally, that one specifically," she interrupted.

Kurama stood up, walked over to her and began wrapping the band around her left arm. "Generally, wards repress yoki, demon's energy, but this is a warning."

Sighing in frustration, Bekka asked, "What kind of warning?"

Kurama cupped her cheek, looking at her seriously, "That you are not to be molested."

Bekka blanched as the meaning behind the words came through his mind. Without it, she would be in danger of being taken forcibly. Kurama's preference for willing partners was not shared by all in the Makai. "How does it work?" she asked.

Kurama smirked at her, "It marks you as my property."

Bekka jerked back, "Your what?"

"Here, in the Makai, ningens are either food or slaves. Which do you prefer?"

Bekka grimaced, not liking either choice. "Fine, what do I have to do?" she asked suspiciously.

"Just behave," he grinned.

She eyed him sharply, "Behave how, exactly?"

Kurama caught her cheek again, "Do as you're told and keep quiet." Releasing her cheek and tapping her on the nose, "You can do that, right?"

Bekka shot him a dirty look before schooling her features into a neutral mask and bowing. "I'll behave, sir." She really didn't like it, but didn't see that she had a choice.

Kurama chuckled, bending over to whisper in her ear, "See that you do, or I'll be forced to punish you." He licked her ear and continued to laugh as she struggled to control the color rising in her cheeks. "Let's go." He turned on his heel and left.

Bekka followed, confused and upset. She was confused about Kurama's ability to block her, why he chose to go to town now, what he was planning. She was upset at having to be his "property" and not being able to tell if he believed it or not. She could still read his emotions, but couldn't get much more from him. She was loosing what little advantage she had and wasn't happy about that.

After a short time, Bekka became aware of more voices in her head. She thought she'd gotten used to having more than her own voice running through her skull, but hearing so many more was disconcerting, to say the least. In an attempt to quiet them, she tried to focus on the now familiar voice of Kurama, but between the others and his blocking her, it was difficult to concentrate. Rubbing her temples, she began to think viciously, 'C'mon, concentrate. You can do this. Focus!' Her steps began to lag as her mind turned inward.

Kurama noticed she'd fallen behind as they approached the town. He looked back at her, wondering what was holding her up. When he saw her pained expression, he began questioning the wisdom of this trip. "Bekka?" he asked as he walked back to her and reached out to touch her.

Bekka caught his wrist, trying to avoid the added noise she thought contact would bring. Suddenly, the din quieted to a tolerable level. Shocked, she also realized she probably shouldn't be holding on to Kurama's wrist the way she was, even though she was reluctant to loose the benefit of reduced noise. Slowly, she released her grip. "I'm sorry," she muttered, looking at the ground, waiting for the assault on her mind to begin again.

Kurama saw Bekka's aura flash gold as she grabbed him. This puzzled him, as did the lingering band of aura around his wrist. "What is this?" he asked, holding out his arm to the girl.

Confused, Bekka looked at his arm, his face, and back to his arm. "What's what?" she asked.

Kurama pointed to what he could see so clearly around his wrist, "This."

Bekka frowned, "Your wrist?" She caught that he thought she was playing games. "That's all I see. I don't see anything else," she protested.

"You don't see the gold aural band you placed around my wrist?" he asked carefully, watching the girl closely.

"No, all I see is your wrist. What is an aural band? And how did I put it there?"

"How could you not know what an aura is? You use it to summon fire and air." He couldn't believe she was ignorant of this

"I do?"

"You don't see it?" he asked, beginning to think she might not be playing with him.

"No, I've never seen anything other than fire when I summon it and my eyes were closed when I summoned air."

He frowned, regarding his wrist, "When you grabbed me, what were you thinking?"

"I-I didn't want the noise in my head to get louder. There are several voices and I couldn't sort them out. I thought that if you touched me, it'd get worse, but it didn't. I could focus just on you and the rest of the voices dimmed. I didn't want them to get loud again when I let go. I don't know what I did, though," her voice trailed off, waiting.

"Gold would be a form of air, wouldn't it?" he asked, watching as she frowned and nodded. "Air is the element of intelligence and therefore the mind, right?" She nodded again. "You wanted to protect your mind, right?" Another nod. He shrugged and smiled, "Well at least you have the right instincts for this." He turned, walking again in the direction of the town.

Bekka stood for a moment, staring after Kurama, dumbfounded. She had just learned a lot in a short amount of time, but now she had questions. She jogged to catch up to Kurama. "Could you tell me more about this aura?" she asked eagerly.

He laughed at her, "You're supposed to supply information." She looked crestfallen, and he relented, partially. "Demons have an aura called 'yoki.' A demon's strength is measured by their yoki. Humans have a similar thing called a 'reiki.' Usually, this is always visible to those who can see it. In your case, however, it's only visible when you're using your powers."

Bekka thought this over. "Why did you call mine an aura instead of reiki?"

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, "Because it changes color." She started to protest, to ask a question, when he continued, "Yoki and reiki are always the same color for a demon or person. They don't change. When you summon fire, your aura is red and with air it's yellow."

"Oh," she thought a moment. "Then for water, it'll be blue and for earth it'll be green." She smiled at him. "Thank you, Kurama-sensei." She began humming as she fell back into place behind him.

They entered a smallish building on the outskirts of the town. Kurama thought sharply for the girl to be silent and do as she was told just before entering and was relieved when she stopped humming.

"Oy, Kurama, been a while since we seen you here during the day," the barkeep, a largish demon with red skin looking, for all the world, like a characture of the devil, greeted the kitsune as he entered. His eyes noticed Bekka behind Kurama, taking in her form and the ward on her arm. "When'd you git yerself one o' them? Though, she's pretty 'nough."

Kurama laughed easily, taking a seat at the bar. Surreptitiously, he pointed to the floor beside him. "Ah, yes, Koken, she's a recent acquisition of mine. I found her amongst some other misplaced treasures." Kurama winked at the barman, who knew his reputation.

Bekka stood slightly behind Kurama, resenting being talked about as if she were just an object. She kept her face carefully schooled, not allowing her anger to get the better of her. Trying to take her mind off their conversation, she began to look around the bar. There were several demons scattered around the dimly lit room. Some looked more animalistic, while some looked nearly human. She was amazed at the variety of shapes and sizes. Her attention was brought sharply back to Kurama when he pinched her arm. Her cheeks flamed with color from embarrassment and anger.

"Still got some fight in 'er, looks like," Koken commented, lust creeping into his voice.

Bekka's stomach quailed. Kurama regarded her for a moment before replying, "Yes, she's got a bit of fire in her. I've heard the red headed ones do. But," he pulled Bekka to stand before him, between his knees, "I haven't finished with her yet." He turned the girl around, pulling her back to his chest with one arm as the other roamed over her body. Her blush deepened as she bit her lip. Kurama rested his chin on her shoulder, still talking to Koken, "Just imagine how much she'll be worth when I'm through with her." He turned to nibble on her ear, enjoying teasing the girl when she couldn't do anything in return.

Koken swallowed visibly, "Ya ever wanna sell 'er, let me know, eh?"

Kurama chuckled, "Of course. The usual to drink, please."

Koken walked off to prepare the drink and Bekka muttered under her breath, "I hate you, you know."

Kurama nuzzled her neck, whispering as hi did, "Of course you do. I can feel it, smell it, how much you hate this." A small laugh, "If you hated it anymore, we'd have to go to one of Koken's back rooms." His tongue darted out to lick her neck and she had to fight back a groan as Koken returned with Kurama's drink. He drank it slowly, occasionally speaking to other customers, all the while, using one hand to explore Bekka's torso and arms.

Bekka was loosing the battle to keep her mind focused on anything. Between Kurama's hand wandering over her body, feeling his impression of her, and the envious or lustful thoughts of the other patrons, rationality was simply lost to the girl. Her reaction was not lost on Kurama. His teasing had previously been met with evasion or rebuttal. Here she could do neither, having to submit to him. He knew she was enjoying what she felt, but wondered what would happen on the walk back to his den. As much as he wanted her, he knew that if he took advantage of her, it could cause problems with her training. She had to trust him, so, reluctantly, he tossed a coin at Koken and pushed Bekka away, pinching her in the process. She gasped, not catching herself in time, causing Koken to chuckle. "G'night, Kurama. See ya nex' time," he called as the kitsune left. "An' feel free to bring back th' girl."

Kurama waved over his shoulder, not looking back. He noticed that the band was no longer around his wrist. At some point, Bekka had dropped her defenses.

Her mind was chaotic as Bekka followed the fox demon. She had to reach a decision. Her body was screaming for more, there was no doubt about that. She knew he wanted her, too, and knew why he had chosen to leave. In her mind, however, a small voice screamed at her, telling her she needed to be faithful to her husband.

'Why should I?' another voice countered viciously. 'I'm never going to see him again and he rejected me, so why should I?'

The small voice offered that such a short time had passed.

'I decided to move on, to move forward.'

The little voice countered, 'Are you sure you won't regret it?'

She thought about this, almost running into Kurama as he stopped inside his den. She knew the answer.

Bekka wrapped her arms around Kurama's waist from behind, surprising him. He turned to look at her, only seeing the top of her head, her cheek pressed against his back. "Bekka?" he asked, wanting to understand her motives.

Stepping back, letting her hands trail as she did, Bekka looked up, her eyes darkened to blue. "I know what we both want." She glanced down at her hands, now resting on the small of his back. She drew one hand down his tail, enjoying the softness of it before looking up again. "I know what we both want," she repeated, her voice thickening. She walked around to stand in front of him. "No regrets," she said, reaching up to place her hand on his cheek, urging him to bend down.

"Are you sure?" Kurama asked his voice husky.

In response, Bekka slid her fingers behind his neck, pulling him down as she stood on her toes. Her free hand went to his chest to help maintain her balance as their lips met. She kissed him deeply, unlike the chaste kisses he'd used to tease her. Surprised and gratified, Kurama wrapped his arms around her waist. She pulled back, "Why are you surprised? I do know how to get what I want."

"And what is it you want?" he asked, letting her take the lead, for now.

Bekka's voice was near a growl as she answered, "More." She pulled him back to her, letting her lips express what she wanted, enjoying the dual sensations she felt. It was a heady experience, feeling a kiss from both sides. She wanted to feel more, groaning in disappointment when he pulled back.

"Why don't we go where we'll be more comfortable," he suggested.

"And where would that be?" she asked coyly.

He picked her up, enjoying that she wrapped her legs around him, and began walking with her, "I think the bed would be nice, don't you?"

"Hmmm…" she began kissing his throat as he carried her, letting her tongue dart out every so often. He enjoyed it, almost having to stop and lean against the wall. She kissed up his neck and along his jaw, clinging to him with her whole body as he bent over the bed. He gently placed her on the bed, and she allowed her grip on him to relax. Her hand began to roam over his face as she pulled back to look at him. He was watching her, one hand behind her head, the other on her waist.

"Are you sure?" he asked again, still not wanting to take advantage of her.

Bekka glared at him, pushing back on his shoulder. He allowed himself to fall onto his back, amused, as the girl straddled his waist, "Do I need to show you exactly what I want?" she snarled at him.

"That could be fun," he conceded, laughing at her.

………

Slowly, the world began to resolve itself. She could feel the bed beneath her, Kurama's hand gently caressing her, the coolness of the air. Blearily, her eyes opened, trying to focus on anything. Everything seemed to be blurs of colors. She could make out Kurama's face, looking at her. Gradually, it came into focus. She smiled at the tender expression on his face. His hand came to her cheek, a finger tracing her jaw line. "You were out for about an hour," he told her, his finger tracing her lower lip.

"Feeling everything is a bit overwhelming," she breathed, her voice still ragged and worn.

Kurama bent down and kissed her lightly, "Did you enjoy yourself?"

She gave him a glare, "Now that's a strange question. Yes, of course I did. Did you?"

He laughed, "Yes, very much. But don't think for a minute you're getting out of training in the morning."

She yawned, "And why would I think that?"

He shrugged, not answering her verbally as he turned her on her side, pulling her back to his chest. "Go to sleep, Bekka."

Bekka grunted in response, lacing her fingers through the hand that draped over her body.

A/N Yes, this is the infamous cut chapter that I've been complaining I would have to write…the original version is three pages (of Times New Roman 12 point) longer than this one…I also promised I'd tell you how to get the full version…but a warning first…it is a lemon…it's only my second and my first m/f lemon and does anyone have any idea how difficult it is when one person involved can feel everything? That made this hard to write so if you get it, I want feedback! How do you get it? Go to my profile page and email me a nice little note asking for it please…if you don't send me feedback, I will send my muse to curse you with a story you absolutely must write, no matter how inconvenient it is! Anyway…again with the safe sex talk…I feel it's important to protect yourself, both physically and emotionally. No one else will take care of you, it's your responsibility. Enough of my soapboxing…on to reviews (my favorite part :D )

Shadow…I saw one other person put up a safe sex warning…and I do feel it's important. I have converted another to the wicked awsomeness that is the Phantom of the Opera…my work is done! Lol And by calling me Edgar Allen Poe, does that mean I mess with your poor brain? Lol That does my ego so much good :D

Rokosho…I update as quickly as I can write…thanks for the compliment :D

Kitsune…yes, Loki is arrogant…it makes him fun to write, though…hope you like the chapter…I had trouble deciding exactly where to cut, but I'm sure I'll hear from you for the full version.

Kayrana…don't try to analyze the questions…just give me your first reaction…I'll explain how the answers help me figure it out…Thanks for reading :D (and it's "probably")

Anasazi…yes, Kurama loves teasing Bekka…it's fun. This is before the series…I do know there will be an epilogue that ties it to the other stories I've written…and if you've read this chapter, you know the order I'm taking the elements, but I need to work more with air, first

Sakura…thanks for reading and reviewing…I'm sorry your home puter is being a brat…but it's working better than mine…I'm typing this up on a friend's laptop because my computer blue screens whenever we try to connect it to the wireless modem (I'm in the process of moving) and, while trying to figure out the problem with the modem, I lost my sound…I can't type without music playing! I'm having to buy a new computer sigh

Jag/Kis…I'm so glad you like Bekka…and how I portray Youko…they're fun to play with…especially with the gods added in for fun…

Ah, one last thing…just so you know, if you do email me…I don't forward stuff, ever, and I won't continue writing you if you don't want me to…but, as I said, I would like some type of response for my effort….What type of effort (not that you really care)? I type my chapters up in one sitting after writing as much as I can get away with by hand. For this chapter, I wrote six pages by hand and typed it in about seven hours…this is the type of slave driving muse I have (in case you care…the full version of this chapter is 11 pages)….Be kind and review….

Ja mata ne!


	8. Chapter 8

The sound of derisive laughter pulled Bekka harshly from a sated slumber. Before she opened her eyes, her ears supplied the identity and she could feel Kurama tensing behind her. Opening her eyes, she growled, "What in the name of all the circles of hell do you want, Loki?" She fixed a glare on the mirthful god.

"You, dear Absinthe, are a delight. I truly did wonder how long you'd be able to withstand your own curiosity, in light of all the kitsune's teasing."

"You…." She growled, stopping when Kurama arched over her possessively and began growling at the god.

"And you, Kurama, how much did you delight in claiming her as your own? Did you not enjoy her curiosity?"

Kurama's ears flattened to his scalp as he growled, "State your business and leave!" His hand went to his hair and withdrew a seed.

Loki laughed, "Come, now, kitsune, you know any attack on me will be futile." Kurama and Bekka continued to glare viciously at Loki as he continued, with a lewd expression on his face, "Looks like she has learned something from you." Bekka brought her knees to her chest and Kurama could see a wall of red form between the girl and the god. "Or not," the god commented, feeling the buildup of energy. He produced a smallish black sack and tossed it on the bed. "Oberon sent this," his voice sounded snide and annoyed. With one last lustful look at Bekka, Loki vanished.

Bekka was trembling in rage and embarrassment, biting her lip, trying to get her emotions under control. She was aware of Kurama's anger, as well, when he pulled her against his chest. Unable to hold back, she began sobbing. "Why are you crying, Bekka?" Kurama asked gently as he held the girl, stroking her hair.

"He makes me so angry," she sobbed, body tense.

"Why do you let him?"

Bekka pushed away from the kitsune. "'Let him'!" she spat. "Am I just supposed to smile and play nice when he starts tormenting me and those around me? Am I just supposed to let him walk all over me and not try to stand up for myself? What in the bloody hell do you mean 'let him'?" She didn't wait for an answer, storming out of the room, instead and went to the dojo.

Surprised at the venom in the girl's outburst, Kurama rose slowly from the bed. He dressed and grabbed the shirt and pants he'd given Bekka before following her into the dojo.

She glared daggers at him, "Kumite!"

"Get dressed first," he answered, tossing the clothing at her.

Never removing her eyes from his, she dressed, and again spat out her challenge, "Kumite!" before launching herself across the room to attack him. Kurama was surprised at the difference in her technique and skill level. In her rage, she used more direct attacks, more vicious moves, not at all like the grace of their other matches. She did not bother to conceal her intentions, and was, therefore, easier to counter and attack. With ease, he deflected her attacks, often throwing her across the room. She would hit the wall, not stopping or redirecting her momentum. Each time, she would get up and repeat the same series of blind attacks and being thrown. After a couple of hours, the girl was drenched in sweat, panting. After hitting the wall again, she dragged her hand through her hair. "Okay, okay," she panted, "halt." She looked at Kurama, who had a bemused expression oh his face. "I don't think clearly when I'm angry," she explained, leaning against the wall and panting. "And this is more effective than ranting about it."

"Getting yourself thrown around is how you work out your anger?" Kurama was nearly convinced he'd never understand the girl.

Bekka laughed, "No, when I get angry, it's like I have too much energy and that gets in the way of thinking. Getting thrown around is how I get rid of that energy." She pushed herself off the wall. "I need a bath," she announced, walking past him. Turning at the door, she asked coyly, "Coming?"

Kurama shook his head as he followed the girl into the bedroom. She stopped by the bed, looking at the bag Loki had thrown there. He walked up behind her, waiting to see what she'd do. Kneeling, she pulled the bag toward her, worked the straps and opened it. Kurama sat on the bed, watching her as she withdrew the contents with a puzzled expression. There were several vials with labels written in a language he couldn't understand filled with powders and what appeared to be dried leaves. Bekka shook her head, "How odd."

Kurama picked up one of the vials filled with a brown powder. "What is it?" he asked.

"That," she nodded to the vial in his hand, "is willow bark. This," she gestured to include all the vials, "is a pharmacopeia. Everything I need to treat any minor injuries and most illnesses." Her voice was between awed and bemused. She withdrew a folded piece of paper, the last item in the sack and read it out loud, "'My dear Bekka, while it is safe for you to eat the plants of the Makai, using them as medicines would not be wise because preparation for medicinal use concentrates the energy of the plant. This concentrated energy would have the effect of worsening any condition you were treating. These were prepared in the human world and are therefore safe for you to use. Oberon.'" She looked at him, at a loss for words and began to repack the bag. Still wearing a bemused expression, she rose and went to the bathing room.

Kurama sat a moment longer, still holding the vial of willow bark, thinking. If he didn't understand the girl, the gods that toyed with her life were an utter mystery. Sighing in resignation, he put the vial in the pack with the others and went to join Bekka in the pool. After removing his clothing, he slid into the water behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned back against him, her arms overlapping his, and sighed. "I didn't answer your question," she stated. He flicked an ear, momentarily forgetting he'd asked her any questions that she'd not answered. "I think," she continued, "the reason Loki gets to me so much is because I can't do anything about him." Her body began to tense as she continued, "He makes me feel helpless, powerless, and I hate that feeling. I hate it and there's nothing I can do about it!" She began to cry in frustration.

Kurama turned the girl so she was facing him and held her as she cried, rubbing her back as she did. He felt a strange sympathy for her, something almost foreign. He, too, was powerless against these gods. Uncertain what else to do, he brought his hand to her cheek, looking down at her for the first time since he'd entered the room. He was shocked to see that her back was various shades of purple and blue. Forgetting his gesture, he asked, "What happened to you?"

Confused and stunned, Bekka turned to follow his line of sight. Looking back at him, she stated flatly, "I got thrown against the wall a few times." Relenting when she felt his belief that she should be healed already, she softened her tone, "Humans don't heal as fast as demons. In a few days," she added sarcastically, "I'll be lovely shades of green and yellow." She leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his waist, "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Squeezing him briefly, she let go. "I have to wash my hair and we still have training. You said I wasn't getting out of that."

Kurama had to laugh at her. "I wasn't sure if you'd remember that." Bekka gave him a saucy grin as she ducked under the water to wet her hair. He relaxed in the water and watched as she not only washed her hair, but her body as well, putting on a bit of a show for him. She paused when her right hand brushed up against the ward still on her arm. "Do you believe this?" she asked, looking at him.

He regarded her for a moment, taking in her mildly anxious expression, finally answering, "No, I don't think you are my property, but you are safer if others think you are." Smiling, he added, "I think, however, you are a puzzle, an adept partner, and stalling. Rinse off and meet me in the dojo." He splashed her and left the room.

Bekka laughed, relieved that he had said no. '"Adept partner"?' she thought, 'what kind of backhanded compliment is that?' She laughed again, 'I guess it's better than being called "adequate" or something like that.' Her mood had much improved from the one she'd woken up with. She left the water after ensuring all the cleanser was out of her hair and dressed in a dark blue skirt and shirt, wrinkling her nose at the amount of laundry she needed to do. She missed the conveniences of her world, at times, but, were she to be honest with herself, was actually glad to be away. With a half grin on her face, she left the bedroom and went to the dojo to join Kurama.

Kurama threw a piece of fruit at her as she entered the room. "Eat, then you're going to summon air again." He leaned against the wall, watching, waiting for her to comply.

Bekka ate the fruit quickly, enjoying the flavor of the citrusy minty flesh before closing her eyes to concentrate on the task she was given. She focused on remembering how the air felt around her body as Kurama held her suspended. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and concentrated on making air flow around her body. Slowly, she could feel it stir against her skin, play with her damp hair, fret with her skirt. She smiled and redoubled her efforts, willing the air to become warmer and dry her hair. The wind obeyed her will and her hair began to lift from her back, swirling around in the flowing ebb tide. She felt a dizzying combination of power and vulnerability as her strength began to recede. She let the wind die down, falling to her hands knees, panting with exhaustion, but happy with what she'd done.

Kurama watched the girl, the aura flickering and strengthening yellow and then red creeping in when she'd warmed up the air. He also saw her pull her aura back in, rather than it scattering from her, showing that she was developing control. He smiled, pleased that she was progressing quickly. He schooled his features as she looked up at him, expectantly. "Well, can you do that again?" he asked.

"Not just this minute, no," she answered. Kurama frowned at her. "Hey," she protested, "at least I'm still awake here!"

Kurama smiled at her, "Yes, you are, and you did well. Practice will improve your stamina. Why did you add fire to the air?"

"I wanted my hair to dry," she blushed.

Kurama walked over to the girl, bending down to run his fingers through her hair, "Well, it seems you've accomplished that." His fingers became snagged, "Though, you do need to brush it out." He lifted his fingers out of her hair and held it out to her, "Let's go eat a proper meal, and see how you feel afterwards." She placed her hand in his and was pulled to her feet, swaying a bit from her lack of energy. He wrapped an arm around her and steered her to the living room, "I also want you to teach me what those labels say and what the powders and leaves are for."

She smiled, "Anything you wish."

He grinned at her lecherously, "Do you really mean that?"

She blushed at the implications behind that statement and look, "For the most part, I'm sure."

Bekka sat in her chair and Kurama drew a finger along her jaw. "How is it you manage to blush like an innocent?" he asked, entranced by the color on her cheeks.

The color deepened, "It comes with the hair."

Kurama bent down to kiss her, "It's quite appealing." Before she could respond fully, he pulled back and walked out of the room. He returned with the black bag and dropped it on the table on his way to the kitchen to grab some food. Sitting down, he stated, "I recognize the letters, but not the words. Tell me what they say and what they're used for."

Bekka pulled out a vial, the willow bark he'd held earlier. "Well, this one is willow bark. The label says Salix alba, which is the scientific name of the plant it comes from. It is used to control pain and inflammation. The normal dose is this much," she drew a circle in the palm of her hand, "in this much warm water," she marked off the level in the bowl in front of her.

"Do you always use your hands to measure?" he asked.

"Yeah, once I learned how to get consistent amounts. For a lot of these, the exact amount of water isn't really that important, but the amount of the medication is. A lot of these can become poisonous if too much is taken."

They spent the next couple of hours going over each of the vials in the bag, their contents and uses. Bekka's eyes began to droop as a yawn interrupted her as she explained the last vial's contents, chamomile. Kurama looked at her, amused and sympathetic, "Time for you to go to sleep, isn't it, Bekka?"

She wrinkled her nose at him, not wanting to admit how tired she was. Kurama stood, stretching before he reached a hand out to Bekka. She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up, swaying slightly as she reached her feet. With a small chuckle, Kurama led the girl into the bed room, steering her to the bed. Surrendering to the inevitable, Bekka curled up on the bed, allowing her eyes to close. As she drifted off to sleep, she heard Kurama laugh lightly as he kissed her on the cheek.

Kurama returned to the living room, his mind turning to how to teach the girl to steal. While he enjoyed her, he did want to have his privacy back. The faster he taught her, the sooner his life could return to its normal pace. His eyes fell on the vials on the table, an idea beginning to form. He scooped up the bottles and began to place them around the room, hidden from sight. He surveyed the results, pleased with himself, and left the den.

Bekka woke to Kurama brushing her hair. She lifted her head, and looked at him confused. "What is your obsession with my hair?" she asked, yawning and stretching.

"I like the color," he stated. "You have a task. Go find your little bottles without disturbing anything in the living room. I don't want to know where you looked. You have ten minutes."

Bekka gave him a strange look and got up. She looked around the living room, not seeing anything out of place, only her bag on the table. "Okay…twenty vials in ten minutes with no evidence. He doesn't ask much, does he?" she muttered out loud. She heard him laugh from the bedroom. Shaking her head, she picked up the bag and began wandering around the room, looking for clues, taking care to put things back how she found them.

After the allotted amount of time, she had found fifteen of the vials when Kurama came into the room. He glanced around, noting that a couple of items were slightly out of place. "Well, how many did you find?"

"Fifteen," she answered, annoyed that she hadn't found them all.

"Good, that's how many were in the room," he smiled darkly at her.

"What?" she looked at him in surprise. "There were twenty vials."

"Did I say they'd all be in here?"

"No," she answered carefully, "you didn't, but…"

"'But'? No excuses, Bekka. Never excuses. The other five are on me. You have the rest of the day to get them back." He crossed his arms, enjoying her consternation. Wanting to watch her squirm more, he added, "We'll be going out today, too."

Bekka could feel her temper starting to rise. 'This is so unfair,' she complained mentally, knowing that voicing her complaint would be useless. Loki wanted her to learn to be a thief, he had confirmed that already. 'Who was she to tell him how to teach her?' a sarcastic voice spoke in her mind. Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on his thoughts, to pull out the locations of the vials from his mind. He was expecting this and managed to block her attempts. Frustrated, she shook her head, "You're the teacher, what choice do I have?"

He laughed at her, "A lot of choice, actually. You get to decide the best method for lifting your vials off of me. So many options," he said as he leaned in and kissed her, taking another vial from her as he did. "Like that, for example," he held out the vial for her to see before pocketing it. Bekka barely managed to bite back a squeal of rage as he continued to laugh at her. "Let's go," he announced, turning on his heel and leaving.

Bekka had an idea as she walked behind him toward the town. Concentrating very carefully, she imagined a small whirl of wind around the vial he had just taken from her. She concentrated on this image, willing it to happen, willing the jar to be lifted out of his pocket and back to her hand. She was relieved when she saw the vial begin to slip out of his pocket and fly toward her. Tired, but not exhausted from the effort, she pocketed the vial.

Kurama was aware of the girl's actions. He wanted to see if she could actually manage to do what she was attempting. He smiled, not turning back to her, when she succeeded. "Well done, Bekka, but the others will not be that easy."

"Easy?" she stuttered at him. "Of course not. Why would we want this to be easy?" her voice was sarcastic. She laughed, "I wasn't sure if it'd work. I'm glad it did, though."

"You're learning, that's good. But, you have a lot left to learn before we're even close to being through with your training."

She sighed, "Yeah, I know. Part of me wants to hurry and get through with training, but part of me wants to take a long time."

He stopped to look back at her, "Why is that?"

She wrapped her arms around his waist, "I enjoy your company." Her fingers found another vial and she attempted to snag it, only to be caught.

"Nice try," he smirked at her.

"I still meant it," she smiled back at him, looking for the other vials, trying to figure out where they were hidden, trying to plan how to get them from him.

He cupped her cheek, bringing his lips to hers. "I didn't doubt that, my dear."

Bekka's finger found another jar as she returned his kiss. This time, she managed to pull it out of his pocket without getting caught. She smiled at him, pocketing it, "I'm glad."

Kurama noticed the smug look in her eyes and took mental inventory of the vials. 'So, she managed to get one. I'll have to be more alert.' He turned on his heel and resumed their walk.

Bekka considered her strategies. If they were going back to the bar, it would be harder for her, since she had to 'behave' and she doubted that running her hands over him, no matter what he did to her, would be allowed. How far would she go to get those vials off of him? She smirked as scenes began to play through her head. 'That would be one way,' she thought, mentally laughing at the ideas.

Kurama led them through the town, into and out of various shops. Bekka managed to withstand the noise of the town without relying on him, mostly because she was concentrating on snagging the containers back from him. By the time he began heading back to his den, she had managed to get five of the six he carried. She was stumped as to how she'd get the last one, though. She hadn't even managed to locate it on him, and she really didn't want to know what he'd do to her if she failed in this task. Concentrating, she tried to read his thoughts, again to be blocked. He really was getting too good at that. She concentrated harder, again failing. She then got an idea. She wrapped his body in wind, pulling his clothes around, turning out his pockets. Her tongue passed between her lips as she focused her mind on finding the vial. Finally, it slipped out, flying to her hand. She grinned in triumph at the startled kitsune.

Kurama knew she was getting frustrated, but never expected to be caught up in a wind tunnel. "You little vixen," he advanced on her, growling.

She began dodging, "You said I had to get them all." She was worried now that she'd angered him and was convinced that was not a good idea.

He was faster than she was, however, and caught her easily. He picked her up off her feet and kissed her deeply. Caught by surprise, she took a moment before responding to his desire. His hands roamed over her body as he held her close. "You little vixen, you learn quickly. And as a reward…" he resumed kissing her, enjoying the feel of her legs wrapping around his waist. His lips traveled down her jaw to her neck, his tongue darting out from time to time, drawing little moans from her.

……..

Bekka woke in the bed, Kurama spooned behind her. "You did better than I thought you would," he said when he became aware of her being awake.

Bekka yawned, "Really? That's good, right?"

Kurama chuckled, "It means I need to expect more from you."

In mock horror, "Oh, no, don't do that, I may fail then."

Kurama pulled her close, nuzzling her neck, "I somehow doubt it, Bekka dear."

She snorted, "I have failed at things before."

"Are you sure you want to admit that?" he asked, amused.

"No, not really, but…"

He placed a finger over her lips, "Bekka, I was teasing you. Relax, sleep, we have a lot still to do."

A/N Another cut chapter…same procedure if you want the full version…I only cut about a page this time, though….Why did I have to write about a kitsune? Now to my normal rants here…I got a new computer that is mostly up and running…I bought the bits and pieces and put it together myself, but for some reason, it didn't want to recognize any of my drives….I'm very fortunate to have a friend who loves putting together hardware. She fixed it for me and it'll be fully functional soon….yay, I'm so happy about that :D I can go back to doing my fun stuff on photoshop (I am so jonesing for it…it's been over three weeks since I've been able to play and I've seen a lot of pictures I wanna play with!) Ah, I meant to write this earlier: Why Bekka uses the Western elementals instead of the Eastern….Loki is Norse, Bekka is American (I do have part of the first story written…somewhere…also…I know the Western elements better than Eastern and it's easier to find resources on Western elements)…On to reviews :D

Shadow: You are wonderful to review and promote me :D luv ya ;D

Anasazi: Youko just loves teasing…I'm glad that you approve of the safe sex talk…I do feel it's important to take care of yourself and no one else is going to if you don't.

Kitsune: Yes, there's more! And more to this too! And don't worry about spelling…if it weren't for the wavey red lines, I wouldn't know how to spell several words ;)

Liz: Thank you for your compliments…It's a hard to strike a balance between his various qualities…his sensuality, his intelligence, and so on…but he is fun to write

That's it for this chapter…see ya next time ;D


	9. Chapter 9

Kurama and Bekka settled into what could be called a routine. During the days, they would engage in training or one form or the other: Fighting, magic, thievery, or just tolerating being around groups. In the evenings, they would relax, playing chess or Bekka would sing or play for Kurama. Dawn would always find the kitsune curled around the girl, whether he'd been there the full night or not. It was counter to his nature to limit himself to a single partner, no matter how willing or adept that partner was. Bekka would use the time alone to relax, often floating in the bathing pool, enjoying the silence in her mind. Though Kurama could prevent her from learning specifically what he thought, there was always that undercurrent of noise that could be very draining.

Kurama returned one night to find his bed empty. This puzzled him since the girl was almost always there when he got home. He walked through the living room, dojo, kitchen, not finding her in those rooms. Finally, he entered the bathing room and was surprised to see that Bekka had fallen asleep in the water, supported by a faint blue aura. This puzzled him since they hadn't begun training with water yet. He shed his clothing and entered the pool carefully, concerned that startling her awake could have negative consequences. He slipped his hands under her shoulders and knees before touching her. Slowly, confused, she opened her eyes and the aura vanished.

"Wha-?" she mumbled, bringing a fist to her eyes as she yawned.

"Did you want to sleep in the water?" he teased her gently.

"Nuh?" Bekka looked around, "Musta been more tired than I thought," she muttered, cuddling up against his chest, falling back to sleep.

Kurama chuckled softly as he left the pool with the girl. She began shivering until he wrapped her in a towel, a task made more difficult by her leech-like clinging. Sighing, he sat on the bench height ledge and began drying her hair, massaging her scalp. She gradually relaxed in his lap, deeply asleep. He carried her still from to the bed, thinking as he snuggled in behind her, 'Well, we'll go with her instincts. If she's using water in her sleep, it should be easier when she's awake.'

Bekka woke slowly, at first because she didn't remember getting into bed the night before. The last thing she remembered was floating in the pool. Kurama nuzzled her neck sleepily. "You were asleep in the water when I got home," he muttered in her ear.

Bekka allowed herself to enjoy the contact before complaining, "I thought I was the empath here."

Kurama chuckled, "Familiarity breeds certain skills." He let his lips trail along her neck until he found the spot where she was especially sensitive and sucked it for a moment, drawing a gasping groan from the girl. "Now," he said, releasing her neck, "get dressed, we have a lot to do today." He thought a moment, "On second thought, never mind the clothes. Get up, though." He pinched her as he bounced out of the bed and into the bathing room.

Bekka followed, curious as to what they had to do in the bathing room. Kurama was already in the water when she entered the room. He beckoned her to join him. "When I found you last night, you were using water energy to support yourself."

Bekka looked at him surprised. "I was? In my sleep? How odd…" She began to chew on her lower lip, thinking.

"Odd?" Kurama echoed.

"Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, I'm not really sure, but it seems odd, doesn't it?" Kurama looked at the girl blankly, waiting for her to explain the random statement she'd just made. "I haven't used fire or air in my sleep, have I?" He shook his head, still waiting for her to make some kind of sense. "Isn't it odd that I would use water in my sleep before we even start using it when I'm awake? Especially given that I don't use fire or air in my sleep?"

Kurama shook his head, "Odd or not, it happened. Now let's see if you can do it awake."

Bekka frowned in concentration, sinking into the water, bringing up her knees to her chest, allowing the warm water to support her body. She sculled with her hands to keep herself balanced, but was otherwise still. Kurama watched, silent, as her aura flickered between red and yellow. It fluttered, faded, strengthened, never turning any shade of blue. Still frowning, Bekka changed her position so she was floating on her back, again, concentrating. Her eyes were closed as she breathed slowly and deeply. Again, her aura showed red and yellow, but no blue. She stopped trying for a while, her aura vanishing, and just floated for a while, allowing the water to support her body. Slowly, she tried again, gradually trying to ease into the feel of the water, but she just couldn't seem to reach it. She could feel that she was getting the wrong element each time she tried.

After a couple of hours of standing in the water, Kurama was wondering what was preventing the girl from doing what she'd done so easily. He could also see her getting frustrated. He tapped her shoulder, getting her attention, allowing her to stand up before speaking. "Why can't you get it? You were doing it in your sleep."

Bekka rubbed her aching head. "I wish I knew. I just can't seem to feel it or reach it. It's like I know it's there, but there's a wall between me and it. I don't know how to get past the wall." She rubbed her face, noticing her hands were extremely wrinkled. "My head hurts," she complained. She rubbed her temples, trying to ease the pain.

Kurama shook his own head, not knowing what else to do. "Let's go eat. Maybe being away will help us think."

Bekka smiled at him from under her hands, "My oma used to tell me to sleep on problems, that sometimes my mind would find the solution in my dreams. But, I never could remember my dreams."

"You don't remember your dreams?" he asked, thinking he might be reaching the root of the problem.

"No, never. What I know about my sleep habits is from what other people tell me." She shrugged, "I miss a whole part of my life because I'm asleep."

"You said you dreamed about your oma," he pointed out to her.

"When I'm awake, I do. I day dream and I remember those, but I can't remember what I dream about in my sleep."

Kurama needed time to think. "Get out of the water already. You're wrinkling horridly. Blech!" he pushed her out of the water.

"Hmph! How rude!" she managed to gripe before he covered her head with a towel and began to roughly dry her hair. "Hey!" she protested, batting blindly at his hands, "My head really does hurt and that's not helping!"

"You complain a lot," the kitsune pointed out, releasing her head and wrapping a towel around himself.

Bekka pulled the towel out from in front of her face and stuck her tongue out at him before disappearing under it again and resuming drying her hair, more gently than he had been. Kurama laughed at her and left the room. When her hair was dry enough not to drip down her back, Bekka wrapped the towel around her body. She stood for a moment, frowning at the ground, trying to figure out what was blocking her. Sighing, she tossed the towel onto the ledge and pulled on some clothing before going into the living room.

Kurama handed the girl a bowl filled with warm brownish liquid. "Drink, you'll feel better."

Amused, she sniffed the bowl. "Willow and mint?"

Mildly irritated, "Can't you ingest anything without smelling it first?"

Drinking, and trying to control the face the bitterness of the willow tended to cause her to pull, she shook her head slightly. She handed the bowl back with a smile, "Thank you."

"Don't you trust me?" he asked petulantly as he took the bowl from her.

She blinked at him in surprise, "Am I supposed to?"

Kurama had been teasing the girl, but her surprise seemed genuine. "It generally helps in training and working together."

"I suppose," she responded, uncertainly.

"You suppose? You really don't trust me?" This just didn't fit with what he had heard about ningens. He'd heard that they would only share information and their bodies with others they trusted. While trust was a rare commodity in the Makai, it had to exist between students and teachers.

She held is gaze steadily. "No, I don't trust you. The last person I remember trusting was my oma. Everyone else has somehow violated whatever trust I put in them. And with Loki playing games with my life, it's just simpler not to. I expect you to behave a certain way, to do certain things, but I can't honestly say that I trust you." She cocked her head to the side, "Why does that surprise you?"

"You act like you trust me…or at least how I thought you'd act if you trusted me." For the first time, he felt at a disadvantage, hearing demonic logic coming from a ningen.

"I told you before that I was odd for a human. In my travels with Loki, I've developed a few quirks that make me odder. I can act as if I trust someone, but I'm always looking for something to go wrong, trying to minimize the damage when it does happen. It's inevitable." She shrugged, "I'm a little cynical, a lot pessimistic, but it's because of what I've experienced." She looked him in the eye, arms crossed over her chest, "Does that really change anything, though?"

He regarded her a moment, "No, I suppose it doesn't, does it?" Just when he thought he had the girl figured out, she did something else to confuse him. She smiled at him and he noticed a faint, nearly invisible, aura of blue around her. Returning her smile, he asked, "What are you thinking?"

"How strange trust is, how people throw the word around, and what it really means," she answered.

He noticed the aura remained, even darkened slightly. "Tell me more about what you think of trust," he prompted.

She shrugged and sat. "A lot of people think that in order to love, a person has to trust. I suppose in some way, that's almost true. I don't think expectation and trust are quite the same thing. To me, trust means complete and utter faith in someone, to believe that no matter what, they will be there, supporting you, whatever. Expectations are more limited, bound to situations."

He noticed a slight flare in her aura when she mentioned love, so he continued questioning her, "Tell me more about love."

She gave him an odd look, "Well, there's a lot written about love, both prose and poetry. No one really agrees on what it is. I think that love is a willingness to be completely vulnerable to another person, to be open to them and allow them to be vulnerable to you. I suppose that requires trust, in some form." She sighed, looking at the table, continuing to speak, though it seemed as if she were musing to herself. "I suppose, if I were to really think about it, love and trust are the same thing. Both are based on vulnerability, openness, acceptance. I suppose, then, I haven't really loved anyone since my oma, but, then, what did I experience, then? I thought I loved…" She folded her arms on the table and rested her chin on them, continuing to speak, almost too quietly for him to hear, "I guess, then, there are different types of love, maybe?" She sighed, sitting up, "I didn't really answer your question, did I?"

He noticed that her aura was darkening, "That wasn't really the point. Can you feel it?"

Bekka widened her eyes, trying to capture the feeling. She could feel what reminded her of the warmth of her grandmother's smiles. She focused on this feeling, amplified it, made it more real. She smiled at him and focused on the bowl he still held. A small amount of water appeared in the bowl before she lost control and sagged into the chair.

Though her eyes were open, they held the glazed appearance Kurama had come to associate with exhaustion. He shook her shoulder, "Bekka, are you going to be able to eat?" She turned to look at him, but made no reply. He cupped her cheek, "I guess not. Let's get you to bed." He picked her up and carried her to bed.

When Bekka became aware of the world around her again, she could feel that Kurama was worried. "Why's you worried?" she slurred out at soon as her mouth would cooperate with her.

"You've been asleep for two days," he stated flatly, moving from the foot of the bed where he'd been sitting to hold her.

"Oh," she muttered, snuggling against his body. Her mind was sluggish and she was having trouble just staying focused enough to be awake. She felt him tense behind her. "Wha-?"

"Shhh. Someone's here." He looked alertly at the doorway to the room.

Bekka turned her head groggily to follow his line of sight. In the doorway appeared a darkly clad figure. "Oberon?" she asked.

Oberon smiled at them, "Yes, Bekka."

"Why?" she asked, confused. He had never interfered, that she knew of, and now, three times, he'd contacted her.

"You need some information, both of you do." He walked out of the door and into the living room.

Bekka looked at Kurama, "This is really strange," she stated, flatly.

"Why is that?" he asked, wondering what about this girl and the gods wasn't strange.

"I've never seen Oberon before, never had any contact with him, and here he is, again."

Kurama wasn't sure how to reply to this, so he pinched her, "Get up, already." She glared at him before moving to comply.

Oberon had seated himself in a chair which had not previously been in the room, one that looked like a throne. He waited patiently while Bekka and Kurama sat in their usual seats, watching him carefully. "My dear, we have much to discuss. First, your training is progressing much faster than I thought it would. That being said, I must tell you that water and earth are going to be extremely difficult for you to master."

"Why?" Bekka asked, still not completely awake.

"What is the opposite element to fire?" Oberon asked.

"Earth," Bekka replied, not quite following where Oberon was trying to lead.

"Yes. The opposite of air is?" Oberon smiled at her.

"Water, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Air and fire are complimentary elements, my dear. The element that compliments your native element is the easiest for you to learn. Opposites are harder to learn, taking more effort because their qualities tend to be contradictory to what you're used to. For example, my dear, air is the element of intelligence, which you have in abundance, and water is the element of love and trust, which you lack in."

Bekka frowned at him, "So, fire is chaotic and earth is stable?"

"Yes, my dear, you understand. It is possible for you to learn these qualities, to develop the traits needed to use the elements."

"So, I have to learn to trust?" Bekka asked flatly.

"Yourself, at least."

Bekka snorted, "Why should I trust myself? I have a history of making bad decisions, in case you haven't noticed, Oberon."

Oberon sighed, "You do not make bad decisions, Bekka. You make the most prudent decision at the time…"

"Most prudent?" Bekka cut him off. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, my dear, that even though you dislike a lot of the decisions you've made, they were the best decision at the time."

Bekka shook her head, about to speak, but Oberon cut her off, "My dear, your discussion with Kurama was more accurate than you think. Trust is expectations, they are the same, my dear. Focus more on your positive expectations. Work on not being such a pessimist, my dear, and you will find water much easier to access."

Oberon looked at Kurama, "You, sir, are an excellent teacher for her. I applaud you learning to block your thoughts from her so quickly."

Oberon smiled at the bewildered kitsune, moving his head to include Bekka, "There is a reason I'm here, now. You, my dear, have begun the more serious part of the game. Up to this point, we have been testing you, to see if you were truly able to continue. You will be rewarded at the end of your time in the game. We are not that cruel. But, you still have much to learn, and that is the point of the game for you. Kurama, you too, will be rewarded for your part in this game, provided she wins the challenge." Oberon rose, his throne vanishing. "I'll be in contact, my dear Bekka," and he too vanished.

Bekka went limp in her chair, overwhelmed. "If everything I've experienced up until now was just a test to see if I could play their stupid game…" her voice trailed off.

Kurama rose from his chair, unsure what to say, unsure in general. Every encounter with the gods left more questions than it answered. He cupped her cheek, causing her to look at him. "Don't think it over. Are you hungry?"

Bekka nodded, feeling his uncertainty echoing her own. He trailed his hand off her cheek as he went into the kitchen and she rested her head in her hands, elbows propped on the table. She sat there, unmoving, even after Kurama placed a bowl of fruit in front of her, deep in thought, trying to sort through what Oberon had said, trying to understand it. She was taken by surprise when Kurama reached out and wrapped his hand around her arm. She looked at him questioningly.

"Don't think about it, Bekka. Eat, then we'll go for a walk, allow the air to clear out thoughts." He didn't know why exactly, but her brooding was not what she needed to do.

He felt softly in his mind the words form, 'I am allowed to guide you, Kurama.' He had to work hard to suppress his shock and anger at hearing Oberon's voice in his head. 'I won't bother you much, but until the actual trial begins, I can offer guidance.' A chuckle from the god, 'Not that you really need that much. You really are doing very well with her.'

During Kurama's preoccupation, Bekka ate mechanically, her mind still turning. When she finished, Kurama tweaked her hair, "Come on, let's go for a walk." She followed him, not really paying attention to him or their surroundings, until she bumped into him.

Kurama was tense, bristling. Bekka looked around, and saw a large group of demons standing in front of them. They appeared to be bat like, with large wings from their backs. Some of them had very hard faces, some amused. One in particular caught her eye. She focused on him, trying to read him. He was reluctant, not wanting to participate, but had no choice. Her attention, however, was diverted by the point demon throwing something toward Kurama and herself. Reflexively, almost, she set it on fire and blew it off course. This took the attackers by surprise.

"Since when does the great Youko Kurama use fire?" the leader taunted. Bekka focused on him, reading that he felt he was justified, that, somehow, Kurama had violated something of his.

Kurama stood upright, thinking sharply at the girl to keep quiet and still, "Thought you knew everything about me, did you? That's a mistake few make and none survive." Calmly, he caused the grasses around the confronting band to grow, tangling in their legs, arms, and wings, preventing them from moving. Laughing, Kurama continued, "Now, what is it you think I've done to you?"

"You!" the point, lead, demon spat. "You corrupt our youth and don't have the decency to remember? How dare you!" He began struggling earnestly against the ensnaring grasses, reaching for his belt.

"I assure you, sir, there is nothing wrong with my memory. We have never met. What youth are you talking about?" Kurama remained cool once the initial shock of the ambush had passed. He was in control of the situation, now.

The one Bekka had singled out before spoke up, "Me."

Kurama smiled, "You, I remember." His posture took on a suggestive tone, "And how was it I corrupted you? As I recall it, you started it." He lowered his head slightly, "Kuronue, wasn't it?"

"Shut up, kitsune! You do not have permission to talk to him!" the leader exploded. "That is not why we're here. He wishes to leave us to join you. You corrupted him and now you must pay!" He had somehow worked his hands free enough to throw a scythe at Kurama, forcing him and Bekka to jump out of the way. It was then the other demons became aware of her presence. "It's not enough that you have one of them, you have to take our own!" he spat out.

Bekka had to bite her tongue to keep from telling the demon off. She was still warded as Kurama's property, so he was supposed to think she was his.

"I made no effort to 'take your own.' He chose to come to me. I did not approach him. I made him no offers." Kurama was still calm as he faced the livid bat demon.

"Give us that girl and we'll leave you alone. Otherwise, we'll kill you and take her anyway."

Bekka could feel her temper rise as Kurama seemed to consider the bat's offer. He laughed, "I don't think you could handle her. She's a bit hard to control." He ignored the glare Bekka shot at him. "I told you, you have no claim against me. Leave." He caused the grasses to release the gang. Instead of leaving, however, several of them ranged themselves around the kitsune, weapons ready.

The leader walked confidently over to Bekka, who stepped back. "We will take her. Try to stop us, and you will die, kitsune."

Bekka flashed a glance at Kurama, questioning. The smallest of nods answered her. She could defend herself. Returning her focus to the bat demon, she easily dodged his attempt to catch her. Angry and not willing to give up his claim, he again attempted to capture her. She again dodged easily. He snarled and waved for two more to join him. Bekka almost laughed at their blatant tactics. They formed a triangle around her, trying to capture her by not giving her anywhere to dodge. She allowed them to almost capture her before jumping and landing in the overhanging tree. She could feel Kurama's amusement as he watched. The branches around her were dense enough that the bat demons could not effectively fly up and capture her as she smiled down on them. Having had enough fun, she spoke, "I suggest you leave, now, unless you wish to be our dinner."

This comment actually surprised Kurama, though he did not allow it to show.

"And what do you intend to do, ningen?" the leader snarled.

"Well, first of all, Raiden, I intend to stay in this tree." She almost laughed at the surprise he showed by being addressed by his name. "Second of all, unless you leave, I'll set you on fire. Third of all, if you still continue to refuse to leave, I won't let the fire die down until you're fully cooked. Understand?" She watched him splutter in rage. "Oh, I want one more thing. Leave Kuronue here." She jumped to a different branch as two scythes shot up through the place she'd been. "Oh, dear, what a bad decision," she taunted as she lit the hair of the three demons below her. She continued to laugh as they tried to extinguish the flames, "Go, leave, now. It won't go out until I let it." Another scythe flew at her and she caused the rest of the gang, save Kuronue, pain by lighting their clothing on fire. "Leave, now, before I get mad," she ordered.

Reluctantly, Raiden ordered the band to leave. "Don't think this is over!" he shot over his shoulder as he vanished into the forest. His hair flared up before dieing out.

"No, of course not, that would be too easy, wouldn't it?" Bekka shot back sarcastically as she left the tree.

Kuronue stared at the girl in amazement. "Aren't you a ningen?"

She smiled, "Yes, of course. At least last time I checked I was."

"Then, how…?" he trailed off, not sure what to ask, or even if he could or should or really wanted to know.

Bekka sighed, "You don't want to know, right now. For now, it is enough to know that I am not his property, but his student."

"You started the fires?"

"Yep, I did. Why do you want to join with him?" she pointed to the kitsune with her head.

"Excuse me, but I am here," he interrupted. "And I have my own questions to ask."

"Okay," Bekka bowed, "ask, sensei."

Kurama fixed the girl with a hard look before turning to Korunue, "Why did you want to join me?" He ignored Bekka's snort at this question.

"I know your reputation. You're the best. I wanted to learn from you," Korunue answered, wondering about the interplay between the two.

Kurama seemed satisfied with that answer, and turned to Bekka, "Why did you have him remain?"

Bekka shrugged, "They would have hurt him if he went with them, probably killed him."

Korunue's eyebrows shot up, "How do you know that?"

Bekka looked at him, "I'm an empath, I can read other people's minds." She felt his anxiety, "I can only read, I can't put anything in."

"And just what should we do with him now?" Kurama asked Bekka.

Bekka shrugged, "I don't know. I don't know how things work around here. You decide."

"And if I decide to kill him?"

Bekka blanched, "I won't let you."

"So, you acted on an impulse and now you're stuck with the consequences, girl." Kurama turned on his heel, heading back to the cave. "You decide what to do with him. He's in your debt, not mine." With that, he left the clearing.

Bekka looked at Korunue, who was staring at her. She frowned, "You're in my debt?"

Korunue nodded, "You saved my life, so, yes." He did not like the idea of owing his life to a ningen, even if repayment of that debt would enable him to be near the quicksilver kitsune.

"I dislike collecting debts," she told him flatly. "I would prefer not to be owed anything. But, maybe, we can work together." She thought a moment, frowning at the ground. "How safe are you if you don't come and stay with us?" she asked.

"I can avoid their haunts and territory," he answered, not following the girl's logic.

She held out her hand, concentrating on forming solid fire, sure that she could, even though she had not. A small red stone appeared in her palm. "Take this," she handed it to him. "When it gets hot, find us. I will collect your payment then." She turned and took the same path Kurama followed to leave the clearing.

Kurama had been waiting for the girl, just outside what he knew to be her range, listening. He didn't understand what she had in mind, but was relieved he wouldn't have another guest staying in his den. "Why did you do that?" he asked when she caught up to him.

She shrugged, "It seemed the best idea."

"Learning something?" he teased gently.

She smiled at him, "Perhaps, a little, maybe."

"What did you give him?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her.

"A fire gem. I can feel it, still. I don't know why, but I'll need him later."

Kurama felt her shrug against him. "Don't over think it, Bekka."

"It's a bad habit I have," she confessed.

"I think we could do something about that," he countered, pulling her to face him as he bent down to claim her lips.

…..

Bekka spent the next couple of weeks working on focusing on more positive expectations. She came to, if not trust, at least rely on the kitsune. He, in turn, learned to enjoy the company of another being, not really looking forward to her being gone. As their friendship deepened, Bekka became able to draw on the power of water with increasing ease.

A/N: Hooray! Another chapter! Only about three more and an epilogue left! Are we all excited? Lol Only a small edit…'bout 3 paragraphs, but fun, none the less…I'm posting this over at too, now, but I've only got through chapter two up there…anyways…onto random nonsense….I have a friend who used to teach magic/witchcraft who has been a wonderful resource :D I not only have the books and internet, but a person I can run random plot ideas by :D She also ran my natal horoscope, so now I know why I'm crazy :D What's odd, though, is that I should be earth, according to that, but I'm not…oh, wells. So, as for the rest of the chapter…hmm…lessee, what to add down here…ummm…Raiden means "thunder and lightning"…and Korunue does have a point in the story! Really, I didn't plan on adding him, but the muse directed, and actually showed me why! Oh, yeah, Oberon is the king of the fairies, but for my story, he's a god, who happens to "rank" Loki…I'm allowed to twist mythology…I mean, after all…Bekka's American, Loki's Norse and Kurama's Japanese and they're all together…Ah, now REVIEWS :D lol

Anasazi: Yes, magickal hairdryers…wish I had one! Lol Yes, Loki is awful…and arrogant and all that…he's fun to write…I get to work out my meanness through him…lol

Rokosho: As always…as fast as I can…I had trouble with the beginning of this chapter…my darling muse dumped the middle part without the introduction…the last part came as I was typing…at least one of us has a plan…I hope…lol

Kitsune: "Colleen" is Gaelic for "girl" ;) I'm glad my spelling issues put you at ease…just for your amusement…spelling and geography were the subjects I did horridly in in school…In first grade, I got held in a lot for "creative copying" of my spelling words…it's not my fault the letters moved around:D

Shadow: I love multitasking…as I type this I am listening to music, downloading anime, reading e-mail, working on my resume, and have also had brunch (that's gotta be what you call breakfast when you eat at 10:30 and have a sandwich), and read a Get Backers manga…among other things…like have conversations and junk :D

Anyways :D Hope you enjoyed it. This and the next two chapters are harder for me to write because I haven't actually been able to do much with the elements…I can feel water, but can't use it and I can't even feel earth…and if you read above, you know why :D Ta for now :D


	10. Chapter 10

Kurama had just wrapped his arms around Bekka, kissing a leisurely trail up from her collar bone along her neck when she suddenly tensed beneath him. He pulled back and looked at her, confused. Her eyes seemed focused elsewhere and she began to squirm away from him, looking panic stricken. Putting a hand on her arm, trying to get her to look at him, "Bekka? What's wrong?"

"Kuronue. He's in trouble." She pulled away from him, running toward the entrance of the den.

He followed her, matching her pace easily. "How do you know?" It had been at least a week since he'd seen the bat, longer since Bekka had. Also, her range seemed well established, unless…

"The stone I gave him," she cut off his thoughts. "I told you before I could still feel it." Silently, she continued to run in the direction of the stone's pull, unerringly closing in on the bat.

Bekka stopped suddenly at the edge of a clearing. Within the open circle of trees, Raiden and six of his followers were circling Kuronue, who was badly injured, but still struggling to remain standing. Bekka gestured for Kurama to stay within the shadows cast by the trees as she stepped boldly into the clearing. "Raiden, I do believe I told you to leave him alone." Confidently, she approached the leader of the group, stopping to stand akimbo, eyes blazing.

"Where's your master, slave?" Raiden spat at the girl, gesturing for the others to stand guard over Kuronue. "The Maikai is a very dangerous place for ningens." He advanced on her, menace radiating from every line of his body.

Bekka stood her ground, trying not to roll her eyes, "In case you've forgotten our last little meeting, I am quite capable of defending myself from the likes of you."

Raiden lunged at the girl, scythe in hand. Bekka sighed and easily evaded the angry demon. He snarled and tried to follow her dodge, badly off balance. Bekka landed briefly on his head, bringing him down hard to the ground.

"This is tiresome. We've already established that you are nowhere near a match for me. Give up, go away, leave Kuronue alone."

Raiden snarled and threw himself at the girl, bellowing in rage. Bekka calmly side-stepped him, looking bored. "Kill him!" Raiden roared to the rest of his group.

A wall of flames surrounded Kuronue. "I don't think so," Bekka stated firmly, enlarging the circle, forcing Raiden's men back. She glared viciously at Raiden, "Leave now or die. If I ever see you again, you will die." Raiden threw his scythe at her, causing her to dodge, "Fine, your decision." Before she finished her sentence, the seven bat demons were engulfed in flames. Screams of agony tore from their throats as they fell to the ground. The flames did not die down until there was nothing but ashes left.

Bekka fell, shaking, to her knees. Kurama was by her side, gathering her to his chest. "I felt them die, Kurama," she sobbed. "I caused them so much pain."

Kurama hugged her, "You did warm them." Looking over, he saw Kuronue watching them. The bat demon had fallen to his hands and knees and Kurama could see a red stone dangling from a thin chain around his neck, the stone that had called Bekka here to help him. "Bekka," he said gently to the distraught girl, "Kuronue needs your help still. Focus on that for now." He squeezed her and gently pushed her away toward the injured demon.

Bekka stood unsteadily for a moment before tentatively approaching Kuronue. He watched her carefully, mystified. His wings had been badly damaged and he had several deep gashes on different parts of his body. He heard the girl gasp, bringing her hands to her mouth as she knelt. When here eyes reached his level, he could see tears and pain in them, mingled with compassion. "Will you let me help you?" she asked timorously.

"What can you do?" he asked, the pain of breathing making him sharp.

Her eyes welled as she spoke, "Fire is not all I can control. Water is healing. I can help you heal. I can make the pain stop." She brought her hands level with his temples, not touching him, but he could feel the energy radiating from her. A single nod was all he could manage, but it was enough as he felt cooling energy flow through him, easing his pain.

Bekka didn't know exactly what she was doing, only that she could do it. She watched as his wounds closed and she could feel the pain leaving him. She was reaching her limit, but kept pushing, wanting to finish.

Kuronue watched as the girl collapsed, Kurama catching her. "Foolish girl, pushing herself too hard," the kitsune murmured. He looked at Kuronue, noting the bat's wide eyes. "Come on, she'll want to know you're okay when she wakes up."

Kuronue rose shaking to his feet. "Why…?" he began, unsure what he wanted to ask.

Kurama adjusted his grip on the sleeping girl, "That stone she gave you called her, rather inconveniently, I might add. She healed you to help restore balance in her mind. As to why she pushed herself too hard, you'll have to ask her when she wakes up."

Kuronue shook his head, "I don't understand."

Kurama smiled, "And that's not even the confusing part." At Kuronue's gape, he suggested, "Ask her when she wakes up." He left the confused bat demon standing still. Kurama glanced briefly over his shoulder and flicked his tail for him to follow. Bemused, Kuronue obeyed.

Kurama set the girl gently on the bed before turning to Kuronue again. The bat wore a puzzled expression, unsure what would be expected of him or what to do. Kurama moved toward the bathing room. "Let's see how well she healed you, Kuronue," he said, beaconing again for the other to follow him. Kurama turned to face the bat as he entered the room. "Wings." Kuronue gave the kitsune a puzzled look. Kurama sighed, "Open your wings so I can see them."

Kuronue stepped further into the room to give him enough room to spread his wings fully and complied, tipping one so that Kurama could walk around him. He controlled the shiver that wanted to course through his body as the kitsune gently ran his hands over the sensitive membrane of the wings. He could hear the low hum emanating from the kitsune as he stepped closer, removing the tatters of Kuronue's clothing, ghosting his hands over every portion of skin as it was exposed. "Kurama," the bat's voice shook.

"Shhh, I need to make sure you're alright," the kitsune whispered near Kuronue's ear, eliciting a gasp from the bat. "You wouldn't want me to miss anything by not being thorough, would you?"

"And just how thorough do you plan on being?" Kuronue asked as Kurama's hands ran up his shoulders and neck, his fingers playing along his scalp.

Kurama brought his lips to the bat's ear, whispering "Very thorough. Now, close your wings for me, please." Kuronue complied, "Are you going to complain? I did tell you your timing was inconvenient."

"Sorry about that," Kuronue leaned back against the kitsune as he folded his wings against his back, "it wasn't exactly my idea."

Kurama wrapped his hands around the bat, "No, but you are the one I have to blame." He ran his hands up the bat's torso, "I could blame Bekka, but she's asleep."

Kuronue leaned his head back, "Such a shame."

Kurama brought his lips to the other's neck, "Yes, it is

…..

"Wash off," he ordered, climbing into the pool.

Kuronue stood unsteadily, his body not recovered yet, and entered the water. Kurama was watching him as he sat in the water. "What now?" he asked, unsure what to expect.

"After this?" Kurama asked, gesturing at the water. "We go to bed. In the morning, Bekka will want to make sure you're alright. We'll discuss what else then. There are some spare clothes over there." After pointing to a ledge near the towels, he climbed out of the pool, dried off, and went to the bed room.

Kuronue followed more slowly, still unsure. When he entered the bedroom, he saw Kurama curled up around the girl, his eyes open, watching. Slowly, he crawled onto the bed, trying to avoid the kitsune.

Kurama watched as Kuronue tried to settle himself as far away as the bed would allow. Brushing his tail along the other's legs, he asked, "Are you afraid to be comfortable?"

"N-no," Kuronue stammered, avoiding looking at his bed mate, "I didn't want to disturb you."

"Make yourself comfortable, Kuronue. Good night."

Tentatively, Kuronue turned on his side, facing the kitsune's back, letting his hand rest on the other's hip. Kurama grabbed his hand and pulled him closer, bringing his hand over himself and Bekka. Bemused, Kuronue said, "Good night," to be answered by the fox's chuckle.

Bekka's mind was chaotic as she began to wake. Memories of the night before surfaced as well as an extra voice in her mind. The new mind, Kuronue's, she identified it, was confused, but content. Kurama's was content and amused as he nuzzled into her neck. "Good morning, sleepy head," he whispered, "we have company."

"Yes, I know, and you confused him," she muttered back.

"I guess we'll have to deal with that over breakfast, then."

A sigh, "So, who's making breakfast?"

A pinch, "You are, get up, already."

Bekka rolled out of bed, glaring at the kitsune, then smiled at the bat behind him, "Good morning, Kuronue." She left the room humming a jaunty tune Kurama recognized as one about exploding rodents and mulberry bushes.

"Come on, let's get up. It won't take her long to have something on the table. We'll explain things while we eat," Kurama explained to the still silent Kuronue.

Bekka was frowning at the table when the entered the living room. "We're short a chair," she announced when the two entered.

Kurama walked to his chair, pulling the girl into his lap, gestured for Kuronue to take the other chair. "Problem solved. Now, I'm sure you have questions for us, Kuronue."

"Why did you bring me back here?" he began, knowing that the kitsune had a reputation for being a loner, bringing no one to his den. "Why is she here? What's going on?"

"I brought you back here because she would worry about you, and I didn't want to track you down. She is here because she has to be. She will tell you what's going on," Kurama answered and then began eating.

Bekka frowned, "It's a long story. Short version is that I'm involved in some kind of game played by the gods. I was dropped here to learn to control my powers, controlling the elements, and to learn other useful skills. We both don't really have much of a choice about participating. And I think he brought you back here because he's getting used to having someone around." She squeaked as Kurama pinched her. She glared at him and then smiled at Kuronue, "Any questions?"

"Gods? Game?" Kuronue shook his head, more confused after the explanation than before.

Bekka gave him a sympathetic look, "Don't worry, I don't fully understand it either and I've been involved for a long time. Do you mind if I ask a question?"

Kuronue looked at her, bemused, "Go ahead, I guess."

"Do you fight like Raiden?"

Kuronue looked at the girl as if she'd grown another head before his eyes, "He taught me, yes."

Bekka ignored his look and turned to Kurama, "He needs training, more than I do."

"Fine, then," Kurama replied, "you train him."

"Excuse me," Kuronue interrupted. When Bekka looked at him politely, he went on, "You were the first person to defeat Raiden and his group."

"First and last. The point is this, if a little girl can defeat him, what chance do you stand against me, even if I don't use my powers? He came no where near landing an attack on me."

Kuronue felt as though she were insulting him personally. He could feel his temper rising, "What do you mean by that? If it hadn't been for you using your powers, you would have been defeated!"

Bekka rolled her eyes, "Some gratitude." She pinned Kuronue with a harsh glare, "If that's how you feel, then let's go to the dojo and see if you can defeat me. I'll not use my powers and you can use whatever you'd like."

Kurama had to wonder at the audacity of the girl as she walked out of the room, followed by an irritated Kuronue. Curious, he followed. He didn't doubt the girl's skills, having fought her on several occasions, but he wanted to see how she'd play with Kuronue.

Bekka stood calmly in the center of the room as Kurama reached the doorway. Kuronue stood facing her, crouching. "Begin whenever you're ready," Bekka stated calmly. This surprised Kurama because, rather than calling for a sparring match, she was actually challenging him to combat.

Kuronue lunged across the room, attempting to wrap his hands around the girl's neck. She ducked under his hands and landed a punch to his sternum, winding him. Calmly, she stepped away from him. "I have the advantage, Kuronue. If you don't calm down, I will keep it." Kurama almost laughed. The girl was going to train him while he tried to kill her?

Enraged by her comment, Kuronue pulled his scythe from his waist, glad he had remembered to put it in there the night before. He threw it toward the girl, but she jumped over its arc, actually jumping over Kuronue and landing behind him, kicking him in the lower back after she landed. "A thrown weapon has the distinct disadvantage of having a predictable path."

Kuronue snarled and swung around, fists flying, trying to hit the girl. She was no longer there, however. She was now standing calmly several feet away, waiting. Her actions were deliberately calculated to enrage the bat, seeing if he could control his emotions. She was not relying on anything other than simple observation to avoid him. "Rage and anger are the enemy, Kuronue. Master them, and you may stand a chance to defeat me, or even land an attack."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he snarled at her.

"If you think you can do it, be my guest. I doubt, however, that you have even the remotest chance of defeating me." She stood calmly, watching him draw in his scythe. She knew what she would do next, and it would end the match.

As she thought he would, he threw the scythe at her again. She ducked under the chain, grabbing it and pulled him off balance. In his rage, he was not prepared for this and fell. Bekka grabbed the handle of the scythe and brought it to his neck, "Your rage has defeated you, Kuronue. This is why you cannot defeat me. Are you willing to learn?"

Kuronue was shocked, "You used that empathy stuff," he accused.

"No," she countered calmly. "Anger makes people easy to read and predict. I didn't need to read your mind when your body told me what you were going to do." She sighed, sitting back and putting the scythe on the floor. "Look, you have some skill, but unless you either learn to use them when your angry or control your anger, it's not enough. I know that when I'm angry, I fight very poorly. You can ask Kurama if you like." She drew her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I don't want that stone to call me again. It hurt," she whispered. "It hurt a lot."

Kuronue pushed himself upright, looking down at the stone she'd given him, remembering her comments to Kurama the night before. He could feel the anger draining from him, shame at his actions replacing it.

"Stop that!" Bekka ordered, startling the bat. "Don't be ashamed because you reacted. You were confused and I taunted you. I actually did it on purpose," she admitted, blushing. "We needed to clear the air if you're staying here."

"If..." he looked at her, confused again.

Kurama spoke up, "How is she going to train you if you aren't here? Besides, she could use the training herself." He ignored the glare Bekka shot at him, "You do still want to work with me, don't you?"

Kuronue's bemused face began to show signs of a mischievous smile. "Maybe," he answered. "Do we have to share the girl?" he asked.

"Hey…" Bekka protested.

"I don't know, we may let her decide about that," Kurama winked at them. He was beginning to get an idea that had nothing to do with the verbal play he was involved in.

"Oh," Bekka griped, rising, "I am not staying here to listen to this!" She walked out of the room, or attempted to. Kurama grabbed her arm as she passed him.

"Have you ever been rock climbing?" he asked, mildly confused at the question.

Bekka picked up on this as she answered, "Ye-e-es. Why?"

"We're going rock climbing."

"Why?"

"Training, my dear." Bekka blanched at this, knowing there was more behind that word than met the ear. Kurama ignored her change in color and turned to Kuronue, "Care to join us?"

Kuronue was intrigued. He knew the girl was Kurama's student, but he didn't expect to be included on her training. "Sure," he answered, getting off the floor.

The three left the den shortly afterwards. Bekka had changed into pants and threw her medical pack over her shoulder, just in case, she insisted, even though Kurama teased her about it. Kurama led the way, Bekka in the middle, Kuronue following them both as they made their way to the nearest quarry, a couple of hours walk from the caves.

Bekka didn't need to ask why they were going. She knew. Last night, she had demonstrated mastery over water, even if she had pushed herself too far in the process. Now it was time to learn earth. She didn't know just what he had in mind, but she was sure it wouldn't be fun. She didn't really care for rock climbing, even though she'd been, because she was still uncomfortable around heights. She also had the sinking suspicion there would be no ropes involved in this climb. She spent the time traveling trying to prepare for what lie ahead.

It was still too soon for her when they arrived at the quarry. Kurama gestured to one of the rocks with what looked to be a lot of hand and foot holds. "Well, let's see what you can do."

She brushed her clammy hands on her pants as she walked up to the rock. Studying it a moment to find the best way up, she began. Her path zigzagged up the side of the monolith, many of the apparent holds being useless, or spaced wrong for her to use. Pulling herself over the top, she looked back down at the demons with her.

Kurama shouted up to her, "Well, can you get yourself back down?"

"Yes, of course," she yelled back, turning to lower herself over the edge and begin her descent. A couple of the holds she had used on the way up were placed wrong for her to use them on the way down so her path changed directions a few more times. She turned around when she reached the base, standing akimbo.

Kurama walked up to her, something concealed in his hands, "Very well done. Now, do it again." He placed his hands over her eyes, "Only this time, without your eyes. Feel the rock, use its energy to guide you." He removed his hands from her eyes, leaving behind a clinging plant covering her eyes.

Bekka brought her hands up, "What is this?"

"Just moss, Bekka. I'll take it off when you're finished." He turned her around, pushing her slightly so she was pressed against the rock. "Go on up, Bekka."

Bekka could feel fear beginning to surface around the edge of her mind. She knew that giving in to it would only make this harder. She took a deep breath to steady herself and began to feel the rock for the hand and foot holds she had just used. Focusing on her limbs, she blocked out any other information, including the thoughts of the two accompanying her. She could feel Kuronue getting nervous and she did not need his anxiety added to her own. Slowly, she began to ascend again.

She was about halfway up when she missed her next hand hold. Her foot slipped as well, causing her to dangle from one hand. Her heart was racing and she wasn't sure if she had screamed or not. She focused on her hand, trying to somehow improve her grip, to make the rock help her. She could feel the build up of energy around her, within the rock and in her body. She focused on it, trying to make it do what she wanted it to do to make her climb easier.

Kurama and Kuronue watched from the base. Kurama could see a faint green aura around the girl as she climbed, flaring brightly when she lost her grip, darkening as she hung there. He felt Kuronue gather himself up to go after the girl and put his hand on the bat's arm, "Don't, she's doing what she needs to do." He continued to watch as the green aura spread itself up and down from the girl, into the rock. A ladder-like pattern began to form within the green glow, forcing the rock to take that shape.

Bekka knew the rock was obeying her, but she wasn't sure if she could hold on long enough to make it down safely. Before the pattern could be fully imprinted, she tried drawing it in, recalling the energy she was sending out. Some of it came back to her, the rest scattering back into the rock. She slowly made her way back down, using the steps she had created to ease her journey. At the foot of the rock, she collapsed, exhausted.

Kuronue rushed over to the girl, gathering her up. He glared at Kurama, "How could you be so cruel?"

Kurama gently removed the moss from the girl's eyes. She had fallen asleep already, he noted. "It's not cruel, Kuronue. She needed to learn to use earth. I can see when she's using her powers. Had she not tapped into earth, I would have gotten her myself." He took Bekka's hand into his own, looking at her fingers, "I may be capricious," he said, "but I am not going to be cruel to my student." Releasing her hands, he turned, "Let's get her to bed."

The walk home was silent. Kurama was thinking over his reactions to the day. Why had he decided to go climbing today? Why had the girl's near fall cause his throat to tighten? Why had Kuronue rushed to the girl? What was happening to his previously well ordered world?

Kuronue carried Bekka, wondering what about her made him react so much. She had drawn out anger and compassion in one short day. In her sleep, she looked so helpless, but she had demonstrated, on several occasions in the short time he'd known her, that she was not. He looked at the kitsune leading him, wondering what other unexpected things he would learn about the quicksilver demon. His reputation was one of a heartless thief, taking what he wanted from where he wanted without conscience. But, Kurama just didn't seem that way to the bat. There was a lot more to him. Shrugging as well as he could with the girl in his arms, he decided there would be plenty of time for him to figure out the fox, and he had Bekka to thank for that.

A/N: Argh! This chapter was hard to write and it didn't go where I thought it was going to…sigh Not only did my darling muse dump the end of the chapter on me before the beginning, but he also demanded a one-shot and a poem in the meantime…geesh! The one shot is…umm…not going to show up here…blush nor is the cut part of this chapter (2 pages), but, if you e-mail me, I'll send it to you…Oh, by the way…I'm immune to flames :D What else…oh, yeah, people do react very badly when they're confused…wanna get into a fight? Pick on a confused person, even if they love you to death, they'll be willing to fight you. Yes, Kuronue does have a point…really…he has to be in the story…but I'm not telling you why yet, cause it'll ruin the end ;D

Reviews :D I love reviews :D dances in silly circles I got a review on my one-shot from an author I admire…just totally made my week :D

Anasazi: Yep, sleeping water magic…and now panicky earth magic…shrug Hope this fight scene was decent, too…they're hard to write! Gotta wait till the last chapter to see how Kuronue pays off his debt, though…evil grins I know…hehehe

Kitsune: It's true…I didn't learn to spell until college…and that was because I wanted to spend less time spell checking than writing ;D Anyways, I'm glad you're enjoying the author's notes…I hope you like the story too ;)

Shadow: Do you know what the fire gem thingie is now? You should…and by the end of this story, I intend to explain other things about it…geesh…trying not to give away things here…

Rokosho-13: More bat boy…should be happy…I didn't expect him to show up, really…and surely didn't expect him to take on a major role, even if we're reaching the end of the story…

Yep, reaching the end…Two more chapters and the epilogue…though, what I'm feeling of the next chapter at this moment, maybe I can do it in one…hmm….Wells…see ya next round :D


	11. Chapter 11

Days flowed into weeks and months. Some routines remained while others changed with the addition of Kuronue. Evenings were still given to music and games. Dawn still found Bekka wrapped in Kurama's arms, though now they would both be held by Kuronue. Mornings were devoted to sparing and fighting training. Afternoons, Bekka would work on mastering the elements, building endurance. Kurama would still leave on various nights, sometimes taking Kuronue with him, to satisfy his need for variety and give Bekka the quiet time she needed.

Earth proved difficult for Bekka to master, though. She would spend part of each training session in meditation, seeking the stability needed to tap into the solid energy of the rocks around her. Through this process, she, herself, matured and stabilized. She developed patience and better control over her emotions.

Kurama watched as the quixotic girl changed, approving of her growth. He still didn't fully understand her, nor his reactions to her. After a while, he quit trying to understand and just accepted her.

Kuronue worked hard to gain mastery over his emotions, not willing to be outdone by a ningen. He watched her training sessions with interest, seeing her go from frustration and irritation to calmness and mastery. He was soon to see another side of the strange girl, however.

Dawn was creeping over the Makai when a disdainful voice woke the three. "Don't you think it's time you woke up?"

"Loki, you can go rot in hell for all I care," Bekka snarled from the nest between Kuronue and Kurama. Their legs were tangled in such a way that any sudden movements would have been painful to all three.

"It's good to know that your training hasn't changed your charming disposition, Absinthe," he retorted.

"Which part of 'go to hell' are you having trouble with?" Bekka managed to sit up and was working her legs out of the knotted mess. She could feel Kurama's irritation and Kuronue's confusion. They had told him about Loki, but had neglected to mention Bekka's given name.

"I only have your best interests at heart, my dear Absinthe," Loki's voice was full of mock pain.

"If that were anywhere near being true, you'd call me 'Bekka,' you good for nothing…"

"I have a message, you foul tempered street wench," Loki cut her off. He ignored the girl's bristling snarls, actually enjoyed them, rather.

Kurama wrapped an arm around Bekka, arching possessively over her, "Deliver your message and leave, Loki." He could feel the girl trembling in his arms.

Loki looked at Kurama, "So, are you sure you don't think she's yours?" This comment rose Kurama's hackles. He actually snarled, baring his teeth, at the god.

Kuronue had had enough of this show. He rose, walking over to the god, intent on grabbing his throat when he found himself suspended by his neck, unable to move or breathe. "Kuronue," Loki intoned, "that was a bad idea, don't you think?"

"Let him go!" Bekka and Kurama snarled. Loki looked over at them, smirking, before throwing the bat across the room. Enraged, Bekka broke free of Kurama's hold and threw herself at the god, only to hit the wall behind him, head first.

"Tut, tut, little Absinthe, you know better than that," Loki laughed at her.

"Deliver your message, Loki, and leave!" Kurama snarled. He was getting concerned because Bekka hadn't moved from her landing, a brown aura surrounding her. He hadn't seen that color before and didn't know what she was doing.

Loki pouted, "You are no fun. Fine, your message: Oberon will be here in half an hour. He wants to talk to you for some reason." He remained, gloating for some reason.

Kurama glared at the god, "He sent you?"

Loki smiled viciously, "No, that was my idea." With that, he vanished.

Kuronue had picked himself up from where Loki had thrown him and approached Bekka while Kurama did the same from the bed. As he got closer, Kurama could see that her aura wasn't actually brown, but rather tightly banded red and green swirling around her. He reached out a hand toward her and was stopped by her voice, "Don't touch me."

Kurama and Kuronue looked at each other. Bekka had never told either of them that before. They both sat and watched her, Kurama seeing the play of colors. The red and green fought for dominance over her, each flaring and retreating until the green finally became dominant and the red faded. After a couple more minutes, the green faded as well and Bekka sat up, looking tired and pleased with herself. She smiled an apology to the two demons, "I had to try to get a hold of my emotions since we don't have time to spar before Oberon comes. If you had touched me, I would have had yours to cope with too. I did it, though." She smiled triumphantly at them and held out her hands.

They pulled her hands, standing in the process, wrapping her in a hug, when the second visitor of the morning interrupted them, "Well, Bekka, my dear, it seems you've mastered earth if you can call on it after Loki visits." Oberon was dressed soberly and had small smile on his face when the three looked over at him. "I'll be in the living room," he stated, turning and leaving the room.

The three put on clothing and joined Oberon in the living room. He had again created his own chair and added one to the table. Kurama had never actually gotten around to getting a third chair at the table, making the beginning of meals almost a game to see who would sit where and with whom. They hesitated in the door way.

"I need you three to focus, we have much to discuss and it's important. Please, have a seat." Oberon waited until they had settled themselves before he continued. "As I have said before, Kurama, you are an excellent teacher. Bekka has made remarkable progress, much faster than I anticipated. That being said, I do need to explain a couple of things."

He took a deep breath, "Bekka, there is a reason you had to be in the Makai to train. Did you know that?" She shook her head, listening intently, never having received an explanation for anything the gods had done to her before. "My dear, had you grandmother lived longer, she would have told you more about the elements. In the Ningenkai, it is not possible to learn to use the elements as you have here. Here, their powers are amplified, as are yours. Also, you instinctive reactions would not have the same effect in the Ningenkai. Here, your instincts are generally correct, but there, you instincts would be muddled. Do you know why that is, Bekka?"

Bekka chewed her lip a moment before answering, "Because in the Ningenkai the elements aren't as separated?"

Oberon smiled, pleased with her answer, "Yes, dear, that is correct. By learning the elements here, where they are separate, you had a chance to learn the quality of each one. Learning the last one will enable you to use your powers in the Ningenkai. You will have to learn new instincts to work with it, though. But, I know that you are more than able for this task."

"If she needs to use her powers in the Ningenkai, why did you have her learn here where her instincts would be reinforced?" Kurama asked, beginning to feel uneasy.

"Because learning to control void will correct her instincts. It was safer for her to learn here. She needed to go off her instincts. Continue training her and her instincts will become refined to void and she will be able to work in the Ningenkai without problem."

"Safer?" Kurama repeated, failing to see how being a ningen in the Makai could be considered safer than anything in the Ningenkai.

"Yes, safer. The minor accidents she's had during training would have been disastrous had they occurred in the Ningenkai. Her instinctive reactions would have worsened the problem. Also, her exhaustion would have been much worse, had it occurred in the Ningenkai, taking weeks to recover, rather than days."

Bekka spoke up, "Oberon, why couldn't I make medicine here? I don't understand."

Oberon looked at the girl a moment, considering her. "Plants gather the energy of the world around them, which is why they have elemental associations. But, since the elements are different here than your body is adapted to, the concentration process of preparing medicines would throw off the balance needed for healing and make you sick instead."

Bekka thought a moment, "Oh, I see." She still appeared to be thinking and Oberon waited. "You said that if my oma had lived, she would have told me more about the elements. What do you mean? What would she have told me?"

Oberon looked at the girl tenderly for a moment, "She would have told you how the elements are learned in the Ningenkai. She would have taught you to use the elements in a less physical manifestation. She would have taught you that to reach the void it would be necessary to astral project because most people find it impossible to work with it on the physical plane. This would have made your training more difficult. She taught you what you needed to know, however." He smiled a little, "She loves you still, you know, and is proud of you."

Bekka looked startled at this comment and then smiled softly.

Oberon returned her smile and then sobered, "Now, my dear, you begin the most difficult and dangerous phase of your training. While it is safer and easier to learn here, that does not mean it will be safe or easy. You have learned to control your reactions, you'll need to keep that up." He turned to face Kurama, "She will be learning to manipulate the fabric of life itself. Watch her carefully, though we can prevent some things, we cannot prevent everything."

"What do you mean by that?" Kurama asked, not liking the sound of this.

"We can keep her from dieing, but, beyond that, we are very limited. Watch her, you will know when you need to step in." He turned to face Kuronue, "You, too, have a role to play, Kuronue. Learn everything you can from them both, you will need it."

"Oberon," Bekka spoke up quietly, "why are you telling us this? Why do I get an explanation now?"

Oberon's expression softened, "Because, my dear, now the stakes are higher. Now, your trials will be harder for you, but we will try to offer you compensation equal to your suffering. You have been happy here, for the most part. I wish for that to continue, so you need to be warned so that you don't cause yourself harm unwittingly." He regarded her a minute longer, "Do you know what color the void is, Bekka?"

Bekka frowned, "It's unknown, unknowable."

Oberon nodded, "Yes, but what color is it?"

Bekka thought about this a moment, chewing on her lip, "Well, akasha means sparkling, so I guess white?"

"What is white?" Oberon pressed.

"White is all colors reflected," she answered, uncertain if that was what his question really was.

"And akasha is what?" Oberon continued questioning.

"All elements combined." Bekka was becoming worried that she was missing something.

"Why would akasha be white if it absorbs all elements?" Oberon finished.

"So, it's black?" Bekka was incredulous.

"Why do you say that?" Oberon asked lightly.

"Black is all colors absorbed. Or is it like a rainbow? Can black sparkle?" Her lip found its way between her teeth again.

"Does the night sky sparkle, Bekka?" She nodded. "Then so does black. Though it is not really black, but rather like the brown Kurama saw earlier."

"Brown?"

"Red and green fighting for dominance. They did not truly blend, but from a distance appeared brown."

"So, the elements don't actually blend, but come together in concert?"

Oberon smiled, "Yes, dear, in concert, and you must learn to conduct them effectively together. Subtlety is going to be needed, as well as patience. Trust your instincts, but damp down on them." He rose from his chair, "Come, I will show you, Bekka." He walked into the dojo.

Bekka rose, exchanging bemused looks with the two demons, who also rose and all three followed Oberon to the practice room. "Come here, my dear," the god said from the center of the room. Bekka moved to obey, remaining silent. "Hold out your hand and call fire, but don't let it appear." Kurama could see the red aura appear in her hand as Oberon continued to instruct the girl, "Now, add air." Yellow creeped in, banding the red, making it appear orange. "Good girl, now add water." Bekka frowned in concentration, and blue began to show, making the orange appear brown. "Excellent, my dear. Now add earth, slowly." Bekka's tongue came to rest between here teeth as green edged its way into the aural ball in her hand. Gradually, the swirling colors appeared black to Kurama and he stepped closer, to better observe. He could see the bands of color twisting together, and it did seem to sparkle in her hand. He could also see that Bekka was beginning to loose control. Oberon saw this as well, "Draw out each element in turn, my dear. Remove earth." Bekka began to pant as she pulled back the green, and then the blue and yellow in turn. She lost control over her powers, however, trying to pull back on the red and several fires sprung up around the dojo. The girl collapsed, Kurama catching her before she hit the floor. "She did remarkably well," Oberon commented.

To Kuronue, it just looked as if the girl had stood there with her hand stretched out, doing nothing, but when the fires manifest themselves, he knew she had been working hard to follow Oberon's instructions. "What good is mastering something that doesn't show up?" he asked as he moved to put out the worst of the fires.

Oberon chuckled, "When she masters it, she will be able to do almost anything she thinks she can, even vanish if she wants to." He turned to Kurama, "She will be exhausted after several sessions like that. It is going to take her much longer to build up the endurance needed to control void. Until she can do that exercise without loosing control, don't do it more than once a week. Don't let her try anything else with void until she masters calling it. I must take my leave now." With that, he vanished, taking his chairs with him.

Bekka muttered, "Anything I think I can? That should be fun," her voice trailed off as she drifted to sleep.

Bekka felt as if she were drifting, not really awake or asleep. She was aware of Kurama and Kuronue in the room, watching her, waiting, but she just couldn't get herself to wake up fully, yet. The two demons had been talking, but they had stopped, almost as if they knew she was approaching consciousness. Fighting against the lethargy that held her, she forced her eyes open. That effort was almost too much. 'Why doesn't my body cooperate with me?' She struggled to smile at Kurama, who was bending over her. With more effort, she managed, "G'mornin'."

"More like 'good afternoon,' sleepy head," he countered.

"Yeah, that too," she agreed, seeing if she could get her body to cooperate enough to sit up.

Kurama was torn between amusement and concern at her struggles. "How do you feel?" he asked.

Giving up with a sigh, "Like my body's not gonna move without help. I'm still tired, too."

"Why are you awake, then?" Kurama asked in an irritated voice, though Bekka could feel his anxiety as he moved to sit her against his chest.

She attempted a shrug, "Dunno. Just woke up, I guess."

"You've only been asleep a couple of hours," Kurama informed her as Kuronue returned to the room after having left to get some fruit for the girl.

"What were you talking about before I woke up?" she asked, thinking that might give her a clue as to why she'd woken up.

"Oberon's visit," he answered succinctly.

Rolling her eyes, Bekka looked at Kuronue, "What were you talking about before I woke up?"

"What does it mean that you'll be able to manipulate the fabric of life itself?" he asked. They both seemed anxious about this.

"I don't know exactly, only that controlling the void allows the witch to do miracles, after a sort. I guess that's what it means." She again attempted to shrug, coming a little closer this time.

Kuronue continued asking questions, "What does it mean you'll be able to vanish? Are you going to change into a kitsune or something?"

Bekka laughed, "Change? Why would I want to be like this one?" she tipped her head back slightly. "Why would being able to vanish make me a kitsune?" she asked.

Kurama answered, suppressing a desire to pinch the girl, "Because many kitsune have the ability to create illusory realities to suit their whim."

Bekka thought about this, "Well, I guess I'll be able to create illusions, but I think I'll still be human." She frowned, pulling her lip between her teeth, "Oberon said I'd be able to do whatever I thought I could, when I mastered it. I don't really know what that means, though." She fell silent, gnawing on her lip and staring at the bed.

Kurama and Kuronue exchanged a glance over the girl's head. Kurama pulled her lip out from between her teeth and Kuronue slipped a piece of fruit in when she gasped in surprise. "This is more filling than your lip and saves it for us," Kuronue quipped when she glared at him.

Kurama leaned to whisper in her ear, "Eat, then you need more sleep." When she turned to glare at him, he kissed her lightly, laughing when she rolled her eyes at him. Having long since learned it was pointless to argue with them, especially when they ganged up on her, Bekka submitted and allowed herself to be fed. Before long, she began yawning and drifting off to sleep. Kurama gently laid her back onto the bed, snuggling her to his chest. Kuronue returned to bowl to the kitchen and slid in bed behind Kurama, holding them both.

Time flowed, as is its habit. Kuronue continued to learn from Bekka and Kurama, though none of them knew what larger role he had to play. After a particularly rough training session, Bekka asked him if he regretted wanting to join them. "Not in the least," he replied.

"Then I'm not working you hard enough," she shot back, smiling.

It was several months before Bekka managed to summon void without loosing control or needing to go to bed immediately afterwards. There were several times she became frustrated with what she perceived as a lack of progress, but Kurama and Kuronue would remind her of Oberon's comments and her own accomplishments. When that failed, they'd distract her.

At last came the day Bekka managed to summon all the elements and release them without loosing control and without being on the verge of collapsing immediately afterwards. Smirking in triumph, she stated, "Well, I guess now that if I don't want you to see me, then you can't see me." Kurama gave her a strange look. "What? Did I grow a new head or something?" she asked.

"No," he said, unsure exactly of what he saw. "Say that last part again."

"What? The 'you can't see me' part?" she asked, confused.

"Again," he commanded, seeing it again, or rather, not seeing it. She seemed to fade from sight as she spoke.

"You can't see me?"

He wasn't imagining it. The girl was fading from sight. "Keep saying it."

Bekka rolled her eyes, not understanding why he was having her repeat such nonsense, but complied. She started chanting, almost, sing song "you can't see me" over and over, waiting for him to tell her to stop. Getting bored, she started to wander in circles when she noticed he wasn't following her or telling her to behave. She began to have an inkling of why he was making her continue saying the phrase. Wanting to test her theory, she walked behind him. He did not turn to follow her. In fact, he was still looking in about the same place she'd been standing when he told her to start repeating the phrase. Feeling a bit mischievous, she reached out and touched his back. She found that she was unable to let go, however and stopped talking in surprise. When her chant stopped, she was able to remove her hand.

"What did you do?" Kurama demanded, turning to face her. He had just felt as though his strength had been drained and returned to him.

"I just touched you. I didn't know it would do anything. I didn't know why you had me repeating that nonsense. I didn't know anything would happen. I'm sorry," she spluttered.

"You both vanished," Kuronue spoke up from the doorway.

"What?" the two asked in unison.

"Just a bit, but I guess when she touched you, you both vanished. I couldn't see you," Kuronue answered, concerned that Kurama looked as if he felt ill.

"Vanished?" Bekka asked.

"When you said 'You can't see me,' you faded from sight. That's why I had you keep saying it. I wanted to see what would happen," Kurama explained, some sense of balance being restored in his mind. "When you touched me, I guess your power spread and caused the same to happen to me." He shook his head and continued, "It felt like you were forcibly repressing my ki." He pulled a wry face, "It felt like you had put a ward on me."

Bekka looked distressed and began chewing her lip again. She was about to say something when the world around her buckled. She gasped, her eyes rolling back into her head, and began to fall. Kurama caught the girl before she hit the ground, scooping her up into his arms.

The next several weeks were spent building up Bekka's endurance and exploring different aspects of what void allowed her to accomplish. Fatigue would set in at odd times, sometimes delayed by over an hour; sometimes they would not get through an exercise. Gradually, however, there were times she did not collapse at all. These times became more frequent and eventually, the overwhelming exhaustion disappeared completely.

Kurama and Kuronue returned one night to find Bekka pacing anxiously in the living room. She looked up at them when the entered. "It's almost over," she whispered.

"You're right, Absinthe, it is almost over. Provided you can win the game," a snide voice spoke out.

A/N: Jiminy! I thought this was gonna be a lot longer, but…I kinda skipped a bunch of stuff that would have been repetitive…and hey! No cuts this time ;D Random notes (as you'd expect from my author's notes by now)…void isn't necessarily black…magic is one of those very subjective things…I actually couldn't decide whether it was white or black, but George said to go with black…both reasons are listed above ;) Anyways…I've been sick this chapter, so I hope it's still good…found out that what thought was just horrid allergies is actually bronchitis and it hit me hard…I spent a full day in bed (I hate being sick…I hate being stuck in bed…I HATE it…get the picture?)…and actually wrote a page while in bed…My muse doesn't like me too much, eh? Oh…I'm gonna be staff at an anime convention this coming weekend! (there are six exclamation points there…just incase ff deletes them ;D ) HOORAY! So, the next chapter will either be up by Thursday or not until next Tuesday…I don't know which, but it's gonna be long….it's the game chapter…and then, the epilogue…which will be short and just ties this story to Game of Five…anyways…REVIEWS :D

Anasazi…yeah, I think sneaking up on Bekka would be a bad idea…no telling what might happen…earthquakes, fires, tornadoes…who knows…:D

Rokosho-13…I didn't ignore you, I swear, but ff cut off the domain for your email address and the first part was different than what's listed in your profile…I will send it to you, honestly (glad you like the idea ;) )…is it okay to send it to your profile addy?

Shadow…what should you do with me? Ummm….well…I could think of a few things, but I'm not sure if I could say them here… ;) (okay…not that I'd want you to do them…maybe just give me to Kurama…lol)

Liz…I'm glad you're enjoying the story ;D As to why Bekka learned the elements in the order she did…I thought I explained this, but, okay…Fire is her native element, the one she can use the easiest. Air complimented that because of her personality (fire is passion, air is intelligence and quickness of thought). Water came next because it is not directly opposite fire, but opposite air (each element has a cardinal direction, Fire is south, Air is east, Water is west, and Earth is north…there are other associations like with stages of life, but this works for now) making it easier for her to learn. Earth was last because it's in direct opposition to her native and therefore more difficult for her to learn. Void was last because she needed to master the other four first….clear as mud now?

Kitsune Kit…blush Maybe we should give you to Kurama instead of me (or as well as?)? Lol I'm of the belief that demons are less hung up about sexuality than humans are (in case you missed that…I did write about it…) and are less stuck on labels (I also think that more people would be bi if they weren't so hung up on taboos and labels and such, but that's my opinion…I know you're wondering now…or someone reading this is…am I bi? Honest answer…I've never gone out with another girl, but I would consider it…).

KitsuneNiBakaSareru …I intend to finish this…would be really nasty just to leave it here, wouldn't it:D

Yays…seven reviews ;D Happy little me ;D Now I'm going back to bed for awhile…I only woke up cause I couldn't breathe and then George made me write…mean old muse. ;D See ya next time.


	12. Chapter 12

Bekka glared at Loki, arms crossed over her chest, "What's the game this time?"

Loki cocked his head at the girl, "What? No pleasantries? No 'go to hell'? I'm hurt, Absinthe."

"Fine, whatever, go to hell. What's the game, Loki?"

Loki sat in an ornate chair that appeared behind him. "Patience, my dear Absinthe, is a virtue you still need to work on. Have a seat." Bekka gasped as she suddenly found herself sitting on Kurama's lap. He was equally as surprised to be sitting since he had not moved from the doorway. Kuronue was still standing in the archway, staring agape at the sudden change in positions. "This does not really concern you, Kuronue. You can stay or go, I don't care."

"If it concerns them, it concerns me," he stated firmly, taking the remaining seat.

Loki shrugged then ignored the bat. "The challenge is simple, as always. You just need to retrieve a small item, that's all."

Bekka snorted, "If it were that simple, I wouldn't have needed any training. Spill it, the whole game."

Loki gave the girl an appraising glance. "Think how much trouble you would have saved yourself had you asked that before." Bekka's eyes narrowed as Loki smiled at her. Before she could snarl at him, he continued, "You're right, there is more to it than just a simple retrieval. First, the item you're retrieving is extremely valuable, and therefore well guarded. You know of this item as a philosopher's stone. Here, it is called Enma's Seal. It was stolen. Your job is to get it back."

"So, now I'm just your girl-Friday or something?" Bekka chaffed.

Loki's gaze turned lecherous, "Would that you were."

Bekka quailed under the god's heated gaze and leaned back into Kurama. He wrapped an arm around her and snarled at the god, "Continue explaining, Loki."

Loki's expression cooled to merely a smirk as he resumed, "It benefits us gods to work together, therefore, your challenge. The rules are also simple. Kuronue will not join you. Only the two of you, Absinthe and Kurama, will be permitted. Absinthe, you must take the lead. Kurama is permitted to assist, but this is your challenge." Loki looked over to Kuronue, who was ready to protest, "You do have a role to fulfill, but it is not until Absinthe has completed her challenge. Were you to assist her, you could not meet your other role. You will be told when you are needed," Loki pointed at the stone dangling around the demon's neck. The bat subsided.

Bekka spoke up, "What's the time frame?"

Loki sighed and leaned back in his throne, "The seal was stolen yesterday. You have twenty days to find it and get it back."

Bekka's eyes went wide, "Why? You planned that?"

Loki snorted, "No, I did not plan it, stupid girl. You were supposed to have a similar challenge but the seal was stolen and the time frame had to be moved up. It takes three weeks for the seal to imprint to a new owner. If you do not return it in time, Enma looses one of the symbols of his authority, and part of his power."

"How far stepped up?" Bekka wondered if that meant she wasn't really ready, and why couldn't Enma just get back his own seal?

"Only by two days," Loki replied off-handedly, "and why should we gods work when we have lesser beings around?"

Kurama's hackles rose at being called "lesser" by this pompous godling. He snarled, "What else do you know?"

Loki smirked, "More than you could possibly understand, kitsune. But, that matters to you now, that if she fails, neither Oberon nor I will be able to safe guard her from the consequences of that failure."

Bekka blanched, "What do you mean by that, Loki?"

Loki looked at her seriously, almost concerned, "To fail means that you not only die, Absinthe, but that your soul becomes bound to the stone. You will become a part of the seal and will not rejoin your grandmother."

"And if I refuse?" Bekka was beginning to fear the game.

"Stoning will seem like a day at the beach."

Kurama could feel the girl trembling on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to let her know that he'd support whatever decision she made. She leaned against him, drawing comfort from his touch and support. She knew there was really only one decision she could make. Closing her eyes, she spoke wearily, "I accept your challenge, Loki, and your rules. The game is now in motion. Unless you have something to say pertinent to the game, leave." She opened her eyes and glared at the god.

Loki stood, "Good fortune, Absinthe." He held her startled gaze a moment longer and vanished.

Needing more comfort, Bekka turned in Kurama's lap so she was sitting sideways, drawing her knees to her chest. He adjusted his hold on her, pulling her close, resting his chin on her head. Kuronue rose from his chair to sit at the kitsune's feet, leaned his head against Bekka's waist, offering his own mute support. Whispering, Bekka confessed, "I'm afraid. He's never wished me luck before." The two demons exchanged a glance and held the shivering girl as closely as they could.

Eventually, she calmed. "Kurama," she began, "I need you to get more information. We need to know as much as possible. Loki apparently didn't know that much or he would have told us. Kuronue, you and I will work on training like normal tomorrow. For now, let's get some sleep." She sighed deeply, unfolding herself from Kurama's lap.

"Why did Loki say the seal is called a 'philosopher's stone'?" Kurama asked, letting the girl up from his lap.

Bekka frowned slightly, "There are stories and legends about a philosopher's stone, saying that it can allow base metals to be turned to gold or produce an elixir that will grant eternal life or some other power. The goal of alchemy was to change one substance to another, but they were limited by certain rules. The philosopher's stone was supposed to circumvent those rules."

"Alchemy?"

"Alchemy is the belief that through an understanding the nature of matter, one could change its form from something without value, like lead, to something with value, like gold. A lot of people believed it, but there isn't much evidence that it works."

"What sort of rules were there?" Kurama was intrigued.

Bekka looked at the kitsune and smiled a little, "Well, I only know a little about it, but one of the rules was that to gain something, one had to give up something of similar value. Some alchemist claimed it was possible to create a human if enough of them worked together so they could survive the process or if they had the philosopher's stone. I don't really know much else about it, though." She yawned at this point, reminding Kurama that it was very late and they had a lot to accomplish in the next days. Gently, he wrapped an arm around her and steered her to bed.

Kuronue followed mutely, worried about the two he was beginning to depend on. While the nature of the kitsune allowed them to be solitary or in groups, it was the nature of the bat to need others, to live in a colony. He hated that he was excluded from helping them. What possible role could he fill that did not involve helping them? Bekka was frightened, something she had never admitted in his presence. This disturbed him greatly, because he saw her as strong and confident.

Bekka could feel Kuronue's conflict. She pulled away from Kurama and wrapped her arms around the bat, resting her chin against his chest so she could look up at him. "Kuronue," she began, searching for words to comfort him, "there is no weakness in admitting fear. Weakness comes from giving into fear."

Kuronue was flabbergasted. He protested, "But you're fearless. You didn't fear Raiden, you didn't fear climbing that rock…"

"You're wrong, Kuronue. I was afraid of climbing, very afraid. As for Raiden….no, I wasn't afraid of him, I was, however, afraid for you."

"But…" he wanted to argue with her more, only to be cut off.

"Giving into fear cost me too much, Kuronue. I cannot do it again. I have to learn from the mistakes I've made and continue to go forward." She felt Kurama slide behind her, wrapping his arms around both of them. "My little bat, I don't understand the game, nor do I like the rules, but if we don't follow them, we will be punished. I don't want that to happen. Please, try to understand."

Kuronue sighed, "I don't like it."

"Neither do I," Kurama stated flatly.

"But, it's why I'm here," Bekka countered. "You've known that from the beginning, Kurama. I've explained it to you, too, Kuronue. This game is the whole reason that I was brought here." She sighed, "That doesn't mean I like it, either." She brought her head down and rested her cheek against Kuronue's chest. She would miss the feel of the two demons holding her when Loki took her away, but she didn't want to think of that yet. "C'mon, let's get some sleep. We have a lot to do."

Kurama had a lot of trouble finding information about the seal. While people knew it had been stolen, no one seemed to know anything about the thieves. Koken even accused Kurama himself of doing it and then fishing for compliments. "Like I'd do that," he scoffed in response. The only useful information he was able to gather was that a band of petty thieves were suddenly acting far too cocky for their reported skill levels and previous heists. Following this lead, he went to scout their hideout. A group of mixed demons ringed the camp, guarding it, so that he could not get very close. Frustrated, he returned to his den to report his findings to Bekka. Things had changed so much for him in the time he'd known the girl. He wondered if there were anyway for her to continue to stay with him after the game was over. He wanted to keep her, not as his property, but as a companion. He was beginning to feel the same way about Kuronue, as well, though he would never readily admit to those feelings.

Bekka listened to Kurama's findings as she sat across from him at the table. Kuronue was standing in the doorway, listening, but not participating. Frowning, she asked, "You couldn't get closer because they'd sense you, right?" He nodded, used to the series of questions and allowed her to continue. "They would have sensed your yoki, right?" He nodded, waiting to see where she was going, but getting an inkling and not liking the idea. "They wouldn't be able to sense me, however."

"You're not going." Kurama stated, his voice hard, brooking no argument.

Bekka raised an eyebrow at him, "And, why not?"

"It's dangerous. Those demons are a lot stronger than Raiden and his group." I couldn't save you if you were caught, he added silently.

"Kurama, I knew it would be dangerous. I expected that. I'm not going in to fight, just to make sure they have what we want. I won't let them know I'm there. I won't get caught, Kurama." She added gently.

"You're right you won't get caught because you're not going."

Bekka bit back her first reaction. Now would not be a good time to get in a fight with the kitsune, not when she needed his support. Standing, she walked over and knelt by his feet. "Kurama, I know you're worried about me. Please, the best way to help me is to let me get the information we need. I'll be careful, I promise you. I have to go, though. We both know that."

Kurama cupped the girl's cheek and sighed, "I know," he answered her. "I know but I don't like it. You've already gone through a lot." He dropped his hand and looked away from her, more uncertain than he was before.

She reached for his chin, bringing his eyes back to meet hers, "And I will go through much more before all is said and done."

"I don't like it."

"Neither do I, but it's the way things are. I don't know how to change them, Kurama. I don't know what I'd change them to." Her hand went to cup his cheek, her thumb brushing along his lips.

Kurama pulled the girl up and kissed her desperately. He didn't understand it, but he was afraid to loose this ningen who had infected his orderly world with chaos. He pulled her close, pushing her backwards as he rolled on top of her on the floor. Barely giving her a chance to respond, he poured his fear and uncertainty into her.

Bekka opened herself to him, accepting his pain, trying to sooth it away from him with her hands and her body. She knew why he felt this way, but couldn't bring herself to inform him, leaving him to his confusion because it would cause less pain in the long run. Now, she allowed him to use her as a vessel for his angst, but did nothing to relieve it.

Kuronue watched only briefly before realizing what he was seeing. This was an act of one lost to reason, not an act of passion. He closed his eyes, waiting for Kurama's weakness to pass. He could not bear to see those he cared for in such a state, it seemed wrong. He clenched his fists at his sides, thankful that the kitsune continued to kiss the girl, muting any noises that would have been made. He hated Loki for making the proud so painfully needy.

Kurama's world dissolved into darkness as he collapsed against Bekka. She held him, rubbing his back, trying to continue to sooth him. She looked over to Kuronue, standing stiffly in the doorway. "Come here, Kuronue."

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She reached a hand out to him, waiting for him to move. "I can't," he whispered.

"Why not, my little bat?" she asked.

"I don't want to see you so weak. It makes me afraid," he confessed in a broken whisper.

"Kuronue, I'm sorry. Can you be strong for us? Please, be our strength." She continued to hold her hand out toward him, her eyes pleading with him.

Hesitantly, he approached her, kneeling to take her hand. She drew him close and used his hand to massage Kurama's back. "Kuronue, please, understand. After the game, I won't be here much longer. He'll need you. You can't be afraid of his weakness. You have to find your strength and use it to help him. Be honored he trusts you enough to show you his weakness."

Kuronue considered the girl's words. It was rare for any demon to admit to weakness, much less show it. He continued to rub the kitsune's back even after Bekka let go of his hand. Slowly, his own fear dissolved, allowing him to appreciate the gift of Kurama's trust.

Kurama's senses returned to him slowly. He could feel a trio of hands on his back, rubbing him. Voices spoke quietly to each other, but they didn't make sense to him, just a murmur of sound in the background. He could feel the gentle rise and fall of someone's breathing beneath him. This confused him momentarily. Then he remembered, his act of desperation, of need, of using the girl, not even giving her a chance to push him away. He began to feel guilty when one of the hands on his back moved to his face, causing him to open his eyes. Grey eyes met his with acceptance and understanding. He tried to lower his golden eyes, but the hand wouldn't let him. He tried to get up, but arms and legs prevented him from moving. "Let me go," he growled, feeling dirty.

"Not until you listen to me," the girl under him pronounced.

"What?" he snarled back at her, not feeling that he had any right to be near her after using her so badly.

"Two things, Kurama. One, there is no need to feel guilty. If there were, I would have already told you. I wouldn't have held you; I would have pushed you away, so stop with the guilt thing. It doesn't suit you. Two, I appreciate your desire to protect me, but there are things I need to do. I will be going to the camp tomorrow. Please don't argue with me about that anymore."

Kurama looked at the girl, "You're not mad?"

"No, why would I be?" she asked, bemused.

"I didn't give you a choice, nor any pleasure."

"There was no choice to be made. As for pleasure, you've given me a great deal of that. You had a need and you allowed me to fulfill that need for you. What greater pleasure is there than to be needed?"

"But, I used you…" he protested.

"And I've used you to get the training I've needed. What's your point?" her voice took a cynical note.

He looked at her, bemused. He should have expected that answer by now. Smiling wanly, he kissed her lightly on the lips, "Thank you, my dear Bekka. May I get up now?" he smirked at her.

She returned his smile and released him, "Only since you asked so nicely."

The next morning, Kurama led Bekka to where he'd seen the gang of demons. Kuronue stayed behind after a mild protest. Though they'd rather things continue as they had been, both demons realized that being involved in the game forced changes, whether they liked it or not. If Bekka could accept this, then they could as well. They really had no choice in the matter.

A ring of assorted demons circled the camp, spaced evenly so that their perception would overlap each other's. They were alert and wary. If they didn't have the stone, Bekka thought, then no one did. Kurama stopped at the edge of where the demons might pick him up. He would wait there, not liking the fact that he was sending the girl into danger, but not having a choice. She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his waist in a quick hug, "I'll be careful, Kurama-sensei," she whispered before letting him go and vanishing from his sight. She had learned to start the invisibility spell without chanting, but needed to chant to maintain it. He truly had no choice but to wait for her to return. Sitting on a nearby root, he waited, trying not to think the worst.

Bekka watched Kurama a moment before walking away. She had begun chanting under her breath, watching where she stepped carefully to avoid making noise. While the spell did make her invisible, it did nothing to stop any noise she made, save the continuous monotone of "you can't see me" that maintained the cloak. She crept along, choosing to enter the circle near a demon so that she could ensure that she was undetectable. If this worked, she could bring Kurama in with her to help relieve the gang of the seal. She sidled next to the demon, keeping an open mind to his thoughts, but detected none that led her to believe that he sensed her presence. A mental sigh and a slight relaxation in her posture were the only signs of her relief as she continued past him to the inner circle.

Here, things were much different. The atmosphere was relaxed, almost party like. Demons were cavorting with one another, engaged in mock battles or real intimacy, depending on preference and interpretation. In the center of this group, a small demon seemed to sit supreme. His blood red eyes scanned the festivities, smirking now and then as he observed especially enthusiastic couples. His hair stood like blue flames around his head, making him look like a fire brand. His clothing was bright orange, making his hair seem that much brighter. He had several other demons fawning around him, some chained to his throne and as the mood would strike, he would pull one of these demons in for a vicious kiss or a bite from their necks. All of those around him bore open wounds on their necks from his mouth. But, what really caught Bekka's attention was the red stone around his neck. It was roughly the size of her fist and almost seemed to pulse with a light of its own. This, she was sure, was what she was after. But, how would she get it away from his neck? Maybe if…but Kurama would definitely not like the idea. She would tell him the situation first, and maybe he would have a better idea. As she was considering, a messenger ran up from behind her, just missing running in to her, to fall at the leader's feet.

"My Lord Mekiharu, there is a kitsune sitting outside our boundary. He will not say why he is there. What is your command, m'lord?"

Bekka's heart almost stopped in her chest and she almost dropped her litany of "you can't see me" when she heard this proclamation. She almost held her breath, waiting for Mekiharu's response.

Mekiharu smirked, "A kitsune, hey? Hmmm…I wonder if it could be him? Oh, how much joy would it be to rub in his face that I am a better thief than he is?" He rubbed his hands together in glee. "If his name is Kurama, bring him here," he ordered.

Hearing this, Bekka took off at a full tilt run, to warn Kurama, to inform her of her plan, something, all she knew is that she had to reach him first. If she didn't, the game could be lost. Once past the outer ring, she dropped her chant and concentrated solely on running. She reached the kitsune out of breath. In a rush of words, she explained, "He has it. His name is Mekiharu. He wants to see you, to gloat. Give him me as a gift. I have a plan. Please don't argue, there isn't time."

Kurama opened his mouth to protest, but she jumped up and kissed him before he could say anything. Her kiss was desperate and he responded automatically, wrapping his arms around her. The sound of another nearing them caused her to pull back and slide down to the ground to stand behind him.

The same messenger she had just seen entered the clearing. "Are you the one known as Youko Kurama?" he demanded.

Kurama pulled himself up proudly, "I am."

"My Lord Mekiharu commands your presence," the servant replied.

"I was hoping to see him as I have a gift for him," he indicated Bekka. She was deeply relieved that he was going along with her plan, but she could feel him thinking that she was being stupid and foolish and they should have taken more time to discuss things. She regretted the lack of time, but she knew that he would have objected to her plan. She wasn't sure that she didn't object to her plan. It was absolutely ludicrous and dangerous, but she didn't see that she had a choice in the matter. She had to get close to Mekiharu in order to get the stone, and becoming his slave was the only way she could see to do so.

When they reached the clearing and Kurama could see the leader's other slaves, he became angry with Bekka. He wanted to grab her and run from there, return to his cave and yell at her for being such an idiot. He didn't care what the reason, it was not worth her life to get back the stupid stone. But, it was too late for that now. They were stuck with the plan she had devised. At least, he hoped she had a plan. How he wished they had the time to discuss things first. He felt the beginnings of fear for her.

Bekka was very aware of what Kurama was feeling. She wished that she could explain, but they just didn't have time. They had only eighteen days left in Loki's deadline and his threats scared her more than Mekiharu could. She sincerely hoped she had learned enough from Kurama to pull this off.

Mekiharu sat in his throne, smirking at the legendary Youko Kurama. He had pulled a heist that even that one could not. He looked at the red headed ningen behind him, wondering what her purpose was when his runner announced, "My Lord Mekiharu, the one called Youko Kurama claims to have a gift for my lordship."

"A gift, hmm?" he purred, his voice reminding Bekka of a large growling dog. "So, Kurama, you bring me a ningen, do you?"

Inwardly, Kurama quailed. Outwardly, he smiled benignly and pulled Bekka in front of him, cupping her chin, "I do, Mekiharu. Far be it from me to fail to congratulate you on your success." He ran his hand down the girl's body, "Isn't it lovely. And so well trained. I think you will be pleased." Lightly, he ran his claws down Bekka's neck, drawing out a gasp from the girl.

"Remove your ward and send her over here," the firebrand commanded.

Reluctantly, Kurama moved to comply. He felt a sense of betrayal at this act, as if he were somehow doing something horribly wrong. He didn't understand this and worked on shoving it to the deepest parts of his mind. She was in charge, so Loki had said, and if this was what she wanted, the he had to go along. He hated it.

Bekka had to fight herself to not rub her arm after Kurama removed the ward. It had been there so long, she had almost forgotten about it. She also had to bite her lip to keep from saying anything to him. She didn't want to do any of this. She wanted to run away, back to his den, forget the whole thing, make him forget it as well. When he pressed against her back, she walked over to Mekiharu, keeping her eyes lowered. When she reached his feet, she knelt, eyes still lowered. Her own inner turmoil made it difficult for her to filter through the turmoil around her. She was actually caught off guard when Mekiharu reached behind her to grab her hair, pulling her head up to look at him. Her grey eyes widened in shock, causing the blue-haired demon to chuckle.

"Yes, pretty enough. Interesting coloring, as well." He brought his other hand up and ran a finger down her cheek and neck. "I wonder how she tastes," he muttered, almost to himself as he pulled her head back farther. She gasped as her body arched to keep herself balanced, biting back a yelp as his teeth bit into the skin of her exposed throat, drawing blood. She failed to fully suppress the shudder that coursed through her body as he lapped at the open wound, however, causing him to chuckle, thinking that she was enjoying herself. He pulled back to look at the girl, her eyes closed, and chuckled. "Very well trained, Kurama, and delicious as well. I am pleased. Do you care to join us for a meal and perhaps a little entertainment?"

Kurama smiled, playing his part, "I would be most delighted to hear how you outsmarted old Enma."

Bekka was wishing that she could project her thought, but they had not figured out any way for that to work, even though they had tried. Kurama's thoughts were very loud in her head, his anger at Mekiharu, even at her, making him louder than he normally was. She dropped her eyes to the ground and tried to look back at him, attempting to communicate with him in some way. Unfortunately, Mekiharu caught her actions.

"So, ningen, do you already miss your former master?"

Bekka froze, unsure what to do. Mekiharu was amused by the idea, so she decided to play a long, hoping it would work out well for her. "He was my master for a long time," she murmured, keeping her eyes down.

The demon leader grabbed her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. He saw a mixture of fear and hope in her eyes and face. In a good mood, he decided, "Why don't you go and say good bye to him, then."

Bekka felt hope flare through her. She bowed to Mekiharu after he released her and walked over to where Kurama had sat down, sliding into his lap. He wrapped an arm around her waist automatically as she thought carefully over what she wanted to say. She needed his advice on how best to survive retrieving the stone and leaving the camp. Leaning against his chest, she began, "Kurama, I will miss the fires at night." She really hoped he got the reference to Raiden. She was desperately trying to formulate a plan. His mind flashed a picture of Kuronue as he'd been that night and she nodded against his chest, covering the action by snuggling closer to him.

"No, I don't think you will," he replied, thinking of Mekiharu being on fire and enjoying it.

"Oh, I suppose not," she sighed against his chest. His thoughts continued, showing Mekiharu drowning, but with a hesitancy behind it. "I will miss you, though."

"You can always take your mind to the void and see me there," he responded.

Bekka looked up at him, surprised. "I almost forgot about that."

"You do tend to get stuck on one thing, don't you?" he returned evenly.

She grinned lecherously at him, "But you enjoyed me getting stuck on one thing." Her eyes remained serious, trying to let him know she understood his warning and suggestion.

He brought his hand up to her cheek. "Yes, I will miss that, especially when I return to my lonely den. I suppose it just means I'll have to go out more often again."

"You managed well enough before me. I'm sure you'll find someone. After all, who wouldn't want to be with you?" she nuzzled against his hand.

He looked her in the eye, "One would almost think you loved your master."

She came close to losing her composure. He was serious about his comment. "No, but there is one who does." He cocked an eyebrow at her. "At the fire." His mind flashed an image of Kuronue and she nodded against his hand.

He pulled her in and kissed her deeply and she responded to him fully, to the delight of those watching. Pulling back, he whispered, "You learn quickly, don't you?"

She caught the emphasis on "quickly" and smiled at him, "I've heard that comment, yes." She stood up from his lap, "I will miss you, Kurama. Good bye." Bowing to him, she turned and walked back to kneel at Mekiharu's feet.

The demon looked at her closely, "So, you like fires, do you?" Bekka nodded, having a lot of trouble reading the leader as he leaned closer to her. It wasn't so much that he could hide his thoughts, but more that he didn't think one thing at a time. His mind darted from topic to topic with no seeming connection, leaving the girl bewildered as she tried to follow. He traced a finger along her cheek, tipping her chin to look at him. "What is it about fire that you like, girl?"

"I like how it flickers and flares over the wood, consuming it fully. Fire reminds me of passion," she stated softly.

"Passion, hey?" Mekiharu murmured, grabbing her chin and pulling her in for a kiss. Bekka's eyes widened in surprise briefly before she caught herself and began to respond to the violent affection. She brought her arms around the demon's neck, tangling her fingers in his hair, trying to get a feel for the material of the chain around his neck. She could feel his mild surprise at her reacting so fully to him and his own rising desire at this.

He forced his tongue into her mouth, almost causing her to gag as it hit the back of her throat. He didn't care about her enjoyment, only his own, and his own pleasure was foremost in his mind at that moment. He didn't care who was there or what they would try. He only wanted to consume the girl, show her what passion would really do. Watching her with the kitsune had tripped something in his mind that made him want to possess the ningen, to wipe away any trace of the fox from her. There was something wrong with their relationship, in his mind, and he needed to fix it. Viciously, he pushed her backwards, his hand going to her throat.

Bekka gasped, trying to get enough air in her lungs to sustain her. This action seemed to spur Mekiharu on. Bekka's eyes widened as her clothes began to burn away from her body, scorching her skin in the process. Carefully, she exerted her own control over the fire, pushing it away from her skin. Mekiharu took no notice of this, however, being too intent on his own actions to notice or care about what she did. Bekka realized this could be her chance to act. This demon's stupidity, that thing which kept him from being a truly great thief, was the thing that could save her and Kurama if she acted quickly.

Kurama watched Mekiharu's attack on Bekka with great discomfort. He desparately wanted to pull the demon off of her and rip him limb from limb, but knew that would only serve to endanger her. He saw her push the flames away from her without reaction from her tormentor. As he continued to watched with a controlled expression, he could see her gathering up the elemental energies. 'What is the girl thinking?' he wondered and the glowing ball of energy spread out from her, surrounding him and the entire camp. He could see the energy extend to where the guards stood around the camp. Had he blinked, he would have missed the sudden crashing down of the elemental energies onto the entire camp. What he did miss, however, was the screams of pain and agony from every throat as their ki was viciously snuffed out. He missed this because the sudden suppression of his own ki caused him to pass out.

Bekka panted from exhaustion. She barely had the strength to remain awake, but she still had to move. With great effort, she shoved the dead weight of Mekiharu off her, rolling him so that she could pull the stone off his neck. Looking around, she pulled a cloak off of one of the other demons who'd been standing around and wrapped it around her body. Unsteadily, she walked over to Kurama, hoping that her desperate attempt to spare him had been successful. 'He's still breathing,' she thought with relief as she collapsed on his chest, unable to fight exhaustion any longer.

Kuronue halted in his restless pacing of the dojo. The stone around his neck began to burn against his chest. He was being called. Quickly, he ran from the den, heading in the direction he knew Bekka and Kurama had gone that morning. As he ran, the stone began to get hotter, guiding him in a silent game of hot and cold. He passed by a dead demon leaning against a tree and was confused. The stone suddenly returned to its normal state. Slowly, he continued on, unsure what to expect. The sight that greeted his eyes was the last thing he expected. Scattered around the clearing were the bodies of demons, all apparently dead. As his eyes continued to scan the debris, he saw the familiar forms of the kitsune and the ningen who were his family. Afraid, he approached them cautiously. Relief washed over him as he saw they were both breathing. Kneeling next to the unconscious pair, his heart wrenched when he saw the expression of pain etched in Kurama's features. He brought his hand to the kitsune's face and tried to ease the agony from his expression. "I'm going to get you home. You'll be better when you rest in your own bed." Briefly, he wondered what the best way to get the two of them back to the den would be when he heard foot steps behind him. Standing, he brought out his scythe to face the intruder.

"Kuronue, I am not here to harm you in anyway. I am here to help," the darkly clad figure spoke.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" the bat demanded.

"My name is Oberon. I know that Bekka has mentioned me. She has completed her challenge a lot sooner than we thought she would. This, however, is not the end of her time here. Not yet. She still has a task to complete before we can take her from here. Your part has just begun, however. I will help you get them back to the den and explain." The god knelt and gathered the fallen girl in his arms. Standing, he waited for Kuronue to pick up the kitsune.

With some difficulty, Kuronue managed to lift the other demon, turning to follow Oberon, wanting, needing, more information from the god. "What more are you going to force her to do?" he demanded, not feeling particularly generous at the moment.

Oberon sighed, looking contrite, "We didn't plan this game, it wasn't one of ours, but it suited our purpose, so we made use of the situation. What happened to them is that she just barely managed to control her energies enough to spare both their lives. If we hadn't had our hands forced and had gone on the original time schedule, she probably would have been able to shield him completely from the effects of extinguishing all the ki around her. As it is, it will take them both time to recover. She severely over extended herself and just managed not to kill him."

"She would have died, wouldn't she, were you not involved in her life?" Kuronue bit out.

Oberon looked at the girl in his arms a moment and then at him, "Most likely."

"Why did you send her after that stone?" Kuronue demanded.

Oberon looked at the bat sympathetically. "Once she agreed to the game, she became our agent, our hands in the world, so to speak. While we are gods, we are limited in what we are allowed to do among mortals." He smiled slightly, "Some of us enjoy bending the rules, but none of us break them. Were we to break our rules, it would spell disaster for us and those we bent the rules for. We could be stripped of our powers by the other gods. It is just better all around to follow rules. And, one of those rules is that mortals have free choice over their actions. Because of this, we could not just take the stone back. We needed to use an agent to get it back for us."

"You're nothing like Loki," the bat commented on how freely Oberon gave information without taunts.

Oberon laughed, "Personality wise, you are correct. I am his superior. Almost a father figure, in a way. He is one of many that I watch over, ensuring they follow the rules of our lives and games."

"You have other humans you use the way you use Bekka?"

"Humans, demons, and others, yes. Bekka is not even Loki's only focus."

"You inflict Loki on others?"

"They choose him, or agree to be part of the game. We try not to force anyone to participate. We are not cruel."

"You aren't?"

"No, not really. When her part of the game is over, when she has learned what she needs to, she will be rewarded for her part."

"Rewarded?" Kuronue asked incredulous. "What reward could you offer for what you put her through?"

Oberon smiled, "She will find it reward enough."

Kuronue gave the god a strange look, not understanding, and remained silent for the rest of the walk to the den. Gently, both placed their burdens on the bed, Oberon removing the stone from the girl's convulsive grip. The god then led the bat into the living room and indicated for him to sit across from him at the table.

"Kuronue, I will now explain your purpose in this game. You do have a role to play, as you have been told. As I said earlier, had we had the time to play the game we planned, Bekka would have had that much more control over her power. As it is, she almost killed Kurama and severly exhausted herself. You need to watch over the both of them, keep them safe and help them regain their strength. When it is time for Bekka to leave, we ask that you will stay with Kurama. You do have a choice. You can decide to stay or you can decide to leave. It doesn't matter to me."

"You know I cannot leave them," the bat protested.

Oberon's expression softened, "I know, but I needed you to know you have the choice." He stood, "I will return when they have recovered to give Bekka her final task here. I wish you well, Kuronue." With that, the god vanished.

Kuronue walked back into the bedroom, lying next to Kurama, draping an arm across his chest to hold Bekka as well. The kitsune's tail moved against the bat's leg weakly. Bringing his lips to the Kurama's ear, he whispered, "Shhh, sleep, I am here." He was surprised at how Kurama relaxed at those words, the tension and pain leaving his face. Sighing, he snuggled close to the other demon and allowed himself to drift.

It was several days before either Kurama or Bekka woke. Had Oberon not spoken with him, Kuronue would have been out of his mind with worry. As it was, he was still mildly panicky.

Kurama stirred first, his eyes opening in confusion. He moved his head to look around, unsure and some how reassured at the familiar surroundings. He smiled as the worried face of the bat appeared within his line of sight. "Kuronue," he whispered, not having the strength to say anything else.

Kuronue placed a finger against the other's lips. "Quiet, kitsune. You need to rest. Are you hungry?" When he blinked in assent, Kuronue maneuvered them so that Kurama was resting against his chest and began feeding him small pieces of fruit and vegetables. He began talking to sooth both of them, "You've been asleep for about a week, Kurama. Oberon helped me bring you two back here. He said that she has time to recover before she leaves us. I've been so worried about you. You almost died. She almost didn't have the control to spare you." His voice broke and he wrapped Kurama in a tight hug. "What would I have done?" he whispered against the kitsune's neck.

Kurama was shocked at this display, before remembering that Bekka had told him that Kuronue loved him. Slowly, he brought his hands up to cover the bat's arms and leaned back against him. "I'm still here, Kuronue, I'm still here." He barely heard Kuronue's whispered "please don't ever leave me," as the bat continued to hold him. Eventually, Kurama drifted back to sleep, still exhausted.

Bekka woke later in the day, her eyes blearily focusing on Kuronue still holding Kurama as he slept. Relief washed over her as she reached out to touch one of the demons, to further reassure herself that they were really there and were safe. Kuronue caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to face her, "Good morning, sleepy head."

She smiled tiredly at him, "Good morning, my little bat. How long has it been?"

"Almost a week. He woke up about two hours ago and ate a little bit." He kept his voice quiet, not wanting to disturb the slumbering kitsune.

"Food sounds good. Is there still some in the bowl you used for him?" She pushed herself into a sitting position, inwardly cursing the vertigo she felt.

Kuronue reluctantly let go of Kurama long enough to hand her the bowl. "Why is he so much weaker than you are?" he asked.

Bekka frowned. "I suppose I'm a little more used to this feeling than he is. I sincerely hope he never gets used to it." Her face clouded, "I almost killed him, Kuronue. Why don't you hate me?" She fell into her lap.

Carefully, Kuronue placed Kurama on the bed and pulled the sobbing girl into his lap. "You didn't kill him, Bekka. It's not really your fault. Oberon told me that had they kept the schedule they'd planned on, you would have been able to shield him without a problem. It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is!" she wailed. "I could have taken the time to think of something else. I could have tried to stall or something. I was the one who insisted we go. It was my idea and I almost killed him. You should hate me, both of you should!"

Kurama woke during her tirade, only really hearing the last part of it. "Bekka," he whispered. When her watery eyes turned toward him, he continued, "You did what needed to be done. You didn't kill me. There is no point in borrowing guilt for things that you did not do. Stop it."

He reached out to pull her toward his chest, wanting to make her stop crying. She resisted his weak pull but could not stop Kuronue from placing her in the kitsune's arms. Kuronue snuggled up behind her, wrapping his arms around both of them. Kurama laid a hand on the girl's cheek, looking her in the eye. "Bekka, my dear, please don't cry. We don't hate you. You know that, or you would if you paid any attention to what you can feel. I don't like what you did, but you accomplished what needed to be done. You scared me, girl. I don't like that. But, I don't hate you." He pulled the girl to his chest as tightly as he could. She resisted momentarily, feeling unworthy of their affection and then submitted to their continued solace, eventually falling asleep in their arms.

At Kuronue's insistence, Bekka and Kurama spent the next two days in bed. He had been so worried about them while they'd slept, he would only leave the room long enough to get them food. On the third day, both of his patients rebelled, tackling him and demanding to be let out of bed for at least a bath if nothing else. Laughing at them both, "If you're feeling that anxious, I can think of other things to do with you energy."

Bekka sat back on her heels, "I want a bath first. I feel gross." She still felt some guilt, but managed to hide it from the demons. They accepted her, and that meant a lot to her.

Kurama ran a hand up her arm, "Yes, utterly gross. She needs a bath. We need to help her to make sure she gets rid of all the grossness." He pulled her toward him in a teasing kiss. She allowed him to kiss her and then licked his nose as he pulled back. He glared at her playfully, "Yes, she needs to be cleaned up."

Kuronue hummed as he ran his hand up her leg to her waist, "Such a dirty little girl. She definitely needs a bath"

Some time later, they managed to get themselves bathed and relaxed in the living room, Bekka sitting on Kuronue's lap at his insistence. Also at his insistence, Bekka related the events of retrieving the stone. She was reluctant to say anything at first, but eventually related the events, staring at the ground the entire time. Kurama filled in the few details she missed, impressed over all with how much she remembered and how much could be conveyed in a few simple words. He remembered Loki's comment about her being a good story teller. Even though she didn't want to tell the tale, she told it well.

"Did you feel them die, Bekka?" Kuronue asked gently.

She leaned against his chest, "Some, but I was so focused on trying to control the energies that I didn't really feel it."

Kuronue rested his cheek against the girl's head. "I'm glad you didn't feel it."

Bekka closed her eyes and rested on Kuronue's lap as he held her. Kurama watched as his companions comforted each other, feeling content. He smiled softly over at them, enjoying the intimacy the two shared. Bekka opened her eyes and smiled back at the kitsune. With a soft sigh, she closed her eyes again and drifted to sleep. Kurama yawned and pushed himself wearily from his chair. "Let's go to sleep, Kuronue."

The next morning, the three were sitting at the table, discussing what they would do for the day when a voice from the doorway interrupted them. "Bekka, it is time for your last task here."

Bekka looked over from her seat on Kurama's lap. "My last task?"

"Yes, your last task. I need you and Kurama to follow me please. Kuronue, it would be better if you waited here until I call you." Oberon's face was stern and seemed to be slightly troubled.

Bekka rose hesitantly, standing by the chair until Kurama stood and they walked together to follow the god. Oberon led them into the bedroom, directing them to sit on the edge of the bed. Taking a deep breath, he faced Bekka. "I know you have been happy here and you have brought happiness to Kurama and Kuronue. You know how they both feel about you and that is the reason for this last task."

"What am I going to do?" she asked, worried.

Oberon gazed at the girl a moment, considering, before he spoke. "You know that your leaving will cause certain problems emotionally for the two you leave behind?" Bekka nodded, dreading leaving for that reason. "There are also indications of more reasons to ask you to do this final task. Those reasons are not quite clear, and if they were, I could not inform you of them."

Kurama shifted nervously, "What are you going to ask her to do, Oberon?"

Oberon looked at the kitsune, before returning his gaze to Bekka, "Lapsus memoriae," he said simply to her.

Bekka's eyes widened as the words filtered through her mind. A slip of the memory. He wanted her to cause a memory lapse? "Why? Can I?"

The kitsune did not understand the words the god had spoken, but Bekka seemed upset. "Can you what?"

Before she could answer, the god spoke, "Verba ita sunt intelligenda, ut res magis valeat quam pereat."

She looked at the god blankly for a moment while the Latin ran through her mind. Understand the words so the subject is understood. He didn't want Kurama to understand what was going on yet. "Quare?" she asked, why?

"Deus vult!" he responded.

"Res ipsa loquitur, sed quid in infernos dicet?" she snapped back. That it was god's will was obvious, but what the hell did that mean?

"Pro bono." For good.

"Cui bono?" Who's good?

"Bonum commune communitatis." The general good.

"And if I choose not to?" she asked deliberately dropping back into the language Kurama could understand.

"Then I will have to, but I think that you would prefer to be in control of the process."

"What process?" Kurama broke in, disliking being left out.

"Doesn't he have a choice?" she followed his question with her own, wanting to force Oberon to explain what he wanted her to do.

Oberon had the grace to look uncomfortable with the dual questions. Bekka had a point, but he received his orders from a higher source than himself. The only choice he was permitted to offer was whether he performed the task or if she did it. "I cannot offer him a choice unless he wishes to choose your care or mine. The task must be accomplished."

"What task?" the demon asked irritably.

"Explain, Bekka," Oberon ordered, wanting to be sure the girl understood.

Taking a deep breath while glaring at the god, she turned to face the kitsune. "He wants to erase me from your memory."

Kurama bolted up from the bed, "Why?"

Bekka hung her head, "Because of your feelings for me and something else he's not telling me."

"I don't want to forget you," he stated flatly. "I don't want you to leave, either."

She looked at him, pain in her eyes, "Kurama, this is not my end game. I know that. Please, I'm sorry, please don't make this harder than it has to be. I give you the choice. Who would you rather change your memory, Oberon or me?"

"Do you even know how?" he demanded of her, feeling betrayed.

"No, but I'm sure Oberon was going to give me instructions." His tone stung her, but she felt as if she were violating the trust he had put in her. She hated feeling this way. She slumped on the bed, head hanging low, eyes closed.

Seeing the girl look so dejected hurt the demon, leaving him confused and angry. He turned on Oberon, "Why can't she stay here? Why do I have to forget her? I don't want to let her go."

Oberon looked pained as he explained, "As she said, this is not where her game ends. We still need her and she still needs to play. She knows that. I can only tell you the same think I told her. You have to forget her because of how you feel about her. We will not leave you alone, though. Kuronue will remain with you."

"Why does he get to remember her?" the tone was as near a wail as the controlled kitsune would allow to cross his lips. He knew he sounded infantile, but he was in pain.

Oberon bowed his head, "I don't know. I was given my commandments and I am fulfilling them."

Deflated and defeated, Kurama sank onto the bed next to Bekka. Pulling her close, he closed his eyes, trying to block out the painful sight of the god standing before him with his head bowed. Bekka wrapped her arms around the kitsune and buried her head in his chest, mutely begging for forgivness.

"Bekka," Oberon said softly, waiting for the girl to look at him, "remember that ignorance is bliss. You will not be leaving him alone nor with heart break." With that, he slipped the knowledge of how to modify Kurama's memory into her mind and walked out of the room.

Bekka turned her face to Kurama's. "Will you allow me to give you bliss?" she asked, her eyes pleading with him to grant her permission. She cupped his cheek in her hand, "Please?" She slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

He pulled back slightly, running a finger along her jaw. "Will it truly be bliss, Bekka?"

In response, she kissed him, maneuvering so that she was straddling his lap, running both her hands into his hair, rubbing his ears. He allowed himself to fall back on the bed, pulling back from her once more to ask, "Is this what Oberon would have done?"

She met his eyes, "No, he just would have snapped his fingers. I have to do things a little more hands on because I don't have the same power."

He brushed her cheek with his palm, tangling his fingers in her hair. "Since it has to happen, I prefer your way." He pulled her back to his mouth.

Bekka slowly began the process that would remove her from his memory as she explored every aspect of his body, bringing him to what heights of sensual pleasure she could invoke.

Meanwhile, Oberon returned to the living room to speak with Kuronue. "For whatever reason, you are permitted to remember Bekka. Kurama is not. I do not know the reasons. I need you to not speak of her nor her time here."

"How are you going to explain my presence, since it is because of her I am here?" Kuronue asked, trying to absorb the god's dictates.

"That is up to you. He will sleep a day after she has finished her work. During that time, you can fill in your story and any other details you wish. His feelings for you will not change. In fact, his feelings for the girl will transfer to you, as well. I know you love him, and he loves you, as well. Take comfort in this."

Kuronue bowed his head, "I will miss her. How do I explain my sorrow?"

Oberon bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I can ease your pain, but I cannot make you forget."

"You, too, are limited," Kuronue observed.

Oberon smiled wryly, "Yes, even I have to answer to someone."

The two sat silently, each lost in their own thoughts. After a period of time, Bekka walked into the room carrying her bag and violin. Her shoulders sagged and she could not bring herself to look at the two in the room. "It is finished," she whispered.

Kuronue stood and walked to the girl, wrapping his arms around her. "I will miss you, Bekka, but I thank you for the opportunity to become close to Kurama. Will you remember us?"

With she nodded against his chest, "I will remember you both very fondly. I will miss you, but I must go on."

Kuronue tightened his hold on the girl briefly before letting her go to be with Kurama.

With dull eyes, Bekka faced Oberon. "It is time, Bekka. You have said your good byes. I will transport you this time." With that, the world dissolved around her as she was pulled through time and space to her next destination.

A/N Dear gods, this chapter was painful to write…for several reasons…length (it's almost as long as other complete stories I've written…almost as long as Game of Five), subject, it should have been two or three chapters instead of one, convention and illness…but I think it turned out well…what do you think? There were a couple of scenes I thought about editing, but since they're nonspecific and add to the plot, I left them in. The Latin has direct translations, which if you look at http: en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ ListofLatinphrases (remove the spaces, which were put in to allow it to show up). I'm a little tired so this note is going to be short and less obnoxious than normal…we'll skip right to the review responses (I love reviews):

Anasazi…I hope this chapter is satisfying. Just the sort epilogue is left. I'm very glad you've enjoyed the story

Rokosho-13…maybe you should limit your sweet snow consumption ;D I'm glad you've enjoyed the story…and I just said that…I need to be more creative….

Shadow…I love the Princess Bride :D Yeah, that "blah" feeling is how I feel right now…I have been working on this chapter for 5 days now, even at the con…I got Mekiharu's name from a con goer…I wandered out into the consuite (snack room at a convention) and said I needed a name for a villain…and that is how he got his name…I have no clue what it means…I already admitted to wanting to live with Youko and can't count how many times I've wanted to vanish…

Kitsune…Loki is terrible…and now you'll hate Oberon, too, no?

Kayrana…Thanks :D I had a good Easter…I was at a con ;D And I even finished this a day earlier than I thought I would :D Hooray!

As I said, just a short epilogue, which ties this to the Game of Five and then I don't know what I'll write…I was given an idea involving pocky and ropes….but that I couldn't post here…hmmm….Hope everyone had a safe and happy Easter and spring break….Enjoy :D Now, I'm off to eat dinner and recover…I feel blah… 


	13. Epilogue

_150 years and a world away_

Bekka stood on the roof of her apartment building watching the city bustling at her feet. She'd been in the city for almost two months now without any contact from Loki. That was odd. Added to that, he had not forced her presence on anyone. She had spent the time establishing an identity for herself should she need it. She was pondering finding a job to make her stay look more legitimate, but really didn't see the point when she could use her magic to create gems to sell for money when she needed it. There were times that being a witch were very helpful. She sighed, looking over the flow of people and cars below her. She didn't think this is where her game ended. She wondered what Loki was up to.

"Did you miss me, Absinthe?" a snide voice spoke behind her.

Without turning, she snapped back, "What do you want, Loki? My name is Bekka, as you well know. Go to hell already. What's the game?" All this was said without pause for the god insisted on certain things and she had to comply or be tormented until she gave them. It had become their dance, their game, and it had to be played no matter what.

"The game, as always, Absinthe, dear, is simple," came the snide reply. "I even named it this time. I call it the game of five. You have to find four others with strong elemental affinities and beard the lion in his den. One of them will be an old friend of yours," this last was said in a provocative tone.

Bekka turned at last to face the god, "What the hell does that mean?"

"There is a group of four individuals in this city with strong elemental affinities…"

"That's not what I meant and you know it, Loki. What do you mean 'an old friend'? I don't have old friends, you know that as well as I do."

"Yes you do, only he doesn't remember you're an old friend, Absinthe."

"Doesn't remember?" she asked, her voice trailing off. Her eyes grew wide as she recalled the events of her learning to use magic and why a certain person…demon, rather…wouldn't remember her. "He's here?" she asked, almost breathlessly.

"More or less," the god answered off-handedly.

"'More or less?' What does that mean?" she demanded.

"Only that he doesn't have the same body any longer."

"What? You're making less sense than normal, Loki," the girl stood akimbo, glaring at the god.

"You'll understand when you see him. Just remember, girl, he doesn't remember you," the god's voice was harsh.

"Okay, fine, whatever. Collect four people, one of whom I know but doesn't look the same and won't remember me and beard a lion. What's the time frame?" she crossed her arms and stared at the god.

With a snap of his fingers, two men appeared out of thin air. "You have until these two find them to collect your elements. If you fail to collect all four, you will also have to rescue them. From there, I will inform you of the time line."

"Are those all the rules? Is there anything else relevant to the game?"

"Not at this point. Only that I will be your opponent for this round," the god smiled viciously at the girl.

"That's not relevant?" the girl asked sarcastically.

"No, not really. You always play against me."

"Fine, then, the game is set and in motion." Bekka turned to leave the roof only to be paused by Loki's voice.

"Good fortune, Absinthe."

"I hope so," she returned evenly.

"Hope?" the god snorted. "That's useless."

"Maybe," she shrugged, resuming her motion off the roof.

"One day, you'll learn," he countered.

"Dum spiro, spero, Loki," she called over her shoulder, ignoring the bark of laughter that followed her. Her mind returned to the time long ago, to the quicksilver kitsune who taught her a lot more than she realized at the time. He taught her to move on, to face each day, each game, a new. He taught her that not all expectations had to be negative. He taught her to hope. She wondered why he was in the Ningenkai, though, and if Kuronue would be around. She missed the bat almost as much as she missed the fox.

A shift in the thoughts of the two Loki had summoned caught her attention. They had spotted one of their prey. She looked around the crowd, trying to pick out the one they were after. Her eyes were draw to a red head and she focused on him for a moment, confirming his identity. It was Kurama. She smiled. 'Red hair?' she thought, 'I wonder if that was Kuronue's doing?' Falling into step behind him, she tried to gather more information from him before engaging his attention and causing him to guard his thoughts. He was on his way to meet someone. He thought of their faces but not their names. Feeling the two behind her closing in, she spoke up, "You're being followed, you know?"

A/N Just a short little epilogue to finish up my tale. I do have ideas for the next story…and people to blame for them glares at Anasazi but, I suppose with what I wrote in the last chapter, I deserved that… :D To read what happens next, go read the Game of Five…Shameless self promotion :D I can admit to it. I really don't have much else to say, so I'll move on to review responses (which I love :D I love reviews and getting to respond to them :D Makes me soooo happy :D )

Shadow Seeker: Thank you :D I hope you didn't get brain freeze from eating sweet snow too fast. I'm actually happy I made you cry…it means I did my job…I almost cried as that scene went around and around in my head (though I'm not sure if it was from the nature of the scene or from it going round and round with nothing leading up to it…)

Anasazi: I felt badly for Youko, too…but, at least he enjoyed it…that's bad…I should delete it…but I won't.

Kayrana: I like those quotes, I really do…and I'm glad you enjoyed the story. The con was really a lot of fun….three and a half days of utter nonsense and costumes and other funness…highly recommend going if you ever get a chance :D

Kitsune: I just love playing with emotions…Poor Oberon, didn't want to have to do it, but he had to…he's got rules and junk that he has to follow. I'm glad you've enjoyed my nonsense :D

Shadowy one: Twice? In one chapter? That's gotta be a record :D bows Thank you for letting me know I did my job :D Mario music and a depressing chapter? That is an odd combination…I have to admit…

Lucifer: I'm giddy with all the people telling me I made them cry or feel emotions, especially with how difficult that chapter was to write. Yays :D

Until next time…I remain insane :D


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